Pleasanton’s Poet Laureate Has a Full List of Events Planned

Deborah Grossman is a published author, editor, and food and wine writer. Last year, she added one more title to that list, Pleasanton's sixth poet laureate.  

Describing why she applied for the poet laureate position, Grossman, a 21-year resident of Pleasanton said, "I wanted to encourage people to write, to listen, and to think about the world in a different way, which is what poetry does. Poetry informs you about the world, about yourself, in a different way."

Grossman's current project is the 9th Annual Pleasanton Poetry, Prose & Arts Festival on April 17 and 18. She'll be participating in the gathering called Literary Row where attendees get to meet and mingle with more than two dozen local and national authors. But that's not her only role.

"I'm the contest chair so I organize the judges and communicate with the award winners," she explained. "The teen poet laureates will be announcing the teen and youth awards."

She has big plans during her two-year assignment as poet laureate, including new poetry gatherings such as the Boo-etry event she hosted in October. It featured spooky poetry and a live performance of Edgar Allen Poe's "The Raven" by Blanche Abrams.

In February, Grossman organized "Celebrating Robert Frost" where poet David Alpaugh read and talked about Robert Frost. And despite the event being held on Super Bowl Sunday, sixty-five people attended, she said. 

Grossman's love of the written word began at an early age, in fourth grade with an English written assignment. She fondly remembers putting it in a three ring binder and making a cover with blue jean cloth.

"I made a list of my favorite books and quotations," she said. " I felt compelled about this book of writing."

In high school, Grossman used poetry as an avenue for self-discovery. By reading other poets work and literary magazines, she started to love poetry as a way to express herself.

After attending college and graduate school, Grossman went to work for a company outside of the literary world for over 25 years. When they spun off her department, she decided to make a change. During a two-year transition period she took writing classes and tried to figure out what she wanted to do.

She wrote about food and wine for newspapers. At Diablo magazine, she wrote a dining column called Cheap Eats for five years. 

She had gotten back into poetry at Dupont. But when she met former Pleasanton Poet Laureate Charlene Villella 10 years ago and started taking her poetry seminars, Grossman's passion for poetry was relit. 

In her current role as Pleasanton's poet laureate, Grossman feels it's important to continue the Teen Poet Laureate program that was in place when she took over. For Grossman, the program provides an important connection between young kids and the teen poets.

She saw this firsthand when she recently visited Hart Middle School with Teen Poet Laureates Vivienne Chen from Amador Valley High School and Nick Quan from Foothill High School.

"The students really relate to what they're (Chen and Quan) writing about," she said.

In May, Grossman plans to host another new event, "An Afternoon of Poetry About Mom." Joan Gelfand, a San Francisco poet and fiction writer, will read from two of her poetry collections: A Dreamer's Guide to Cities and Streams and Seeking Center. Rebecca Foust will read from several of her award-winning poetry collections, and Grossman will read from Goldie and Me, a book co-authored with her mother. The event will take place on Sunday, May 2, from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. at the Ravenswood Historic Site in Livermore.

On Sunday, June 6, from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. at Century House, a Poetry Rocks in Many Languages session will feature Liz Fortini with poetry in Italian with the translations.  Award-winning poet Jabez Churchill will share his Spanish poems and translate them.  Reading her French poems will be Dublin's Poet Laureate Ronnie Holland, followed by an open mic.

The June event is at Century House, where most programs are held by the poet laureates. But in September, the new Firehouse Arts Center will become another venue for events.  

"I'm very excited about Firehouse because it's going to be a place that people associate with the arts, and the literary arts are an important piece of it," said Grossman.

Wherever events are held, Grossman wants everyone to know that "poetry is alive and well" in Pleasanton.

"It's a fun way to express yourself. Anyone can participate, anywhere, at any age, and get a lot of pleasure out of it," she said.

Learn more about Grossman and her writing by visiting her website.