The city of Sedona, in collaboration with the Community Library Sedona and the Sedona Poetry Slam, have selected the seven finalists for appointment as Sedona’s inaugural Poet Laureate.

One senior and one junior poet will serve as ambassadors for a two-year term to elevate education in literature by promoting an appreciation of poetry in the community and to inspire an emerging generation of literary artists and readers within our local schools.

The five senior Poet Laureate finalists are Martha Entin, Gary Every, Clint Frakes, Camille Lefevre and Teresa “Tee” Pace. The two Youth Poet Laureate finalists are Felicia Elisabeth Grace Foldes and Anya Blue Lior.

A total of 13 poets submitted entries by the March 19 deadline. The requirements to submit were that the poet be involved in the literary arts in the community or beyond, be willing to make presentations throughout the Sedona area, reside within the Sedona-Oak Creek Unified School District boundaries for at least one year, reside there for at least six months of the year and submit up to 10 pages of poetry. The Youth Poet Laureate must additionally be a current student at or recent graduate of a Sedona or Verde Valley school, between 16 and 20 years of age and willing to work closely with the Poet Laureate.

Submissions were reviewed and voted on by a committee consisting of Rex Arrasmith, a widely-published poet who spearheaded the initiative; Christopher Fox Graham, a poet who has been running the Sedona Poetry Slam for 16 years; city of Sedona Arts and Culture Specialist Nancy Lattanzi; Community Library Sedona Executive Director Judy Poe; and Barbara Whitehorn, the city of Sedona’s finance director, who has a personal interest in poetry.

Free Performances

The seven finalists will perform and be scored at two more free public events following the first appearances at the Sedona City Council meeting on Tuesday, April 8, and Wednesday, April 16, in the Si Birch Community Room at Community Library Sedona:

■ Monday, April 21, from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Sedona International Film Festival’s Mary D. Fisher Theatre

■ Monday, April 28, from 6 to 8 p.m. outdoors at Patio de las Campanas in Tlaquepaque

The highest-ranking applicant in each category will be notified and appointed by the City Council at an upcoming City Council meeting in May.

Both poet laureates are expected to give up to four public readings per year, compose poems for community events and ceremonial occasions as requested, provide poetry workshops to area schools, pursue a major literary project with an emphasis on outreach and education in addition to community outreach projects as requested and collaborate with other poet laureate programs in Arizona.

The Poet Laureate will receive a stipend of $2,000 for the two-year term and the Youth Poet Laureate will receive a scholarship to further her education. Both poets will receive per diem costs for school outreach and workshops.

The judges for the four readings will include Sedona Red Rock High School English teacher Jenifer Simons-Gill, Sedona City Councilwoman Kathy Kinsella and Jessica Williamson, a former Sedona city councilwoman, in addition to Arrasmith, Graham, Lattanzi, Poe and Whitehorn.

Senior Poet Laureate Finalists

■ Martha Entin: For many years, Entin, a poet and playwright, has performed at Sedona Arts Center’s Poet’s Corner and Community Library Sedona, with the Pumphouse Poetry and Prose Project and Red Earth Theatre. She is a member of the Sedona Coyote Poets and curated a standing-room-only performance at Rumi Tree Gallery in 2023. For a dozen years Entin has taught a creative writing class, “Writing Our Way to Bliss,” at Yavapai College’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. Raised in Canada, Entin has a master’s degree in counseling psychology and had a successful career as a college counselor and instructor. For her, collaborating with other poets enriches the creative experience. She finds great joy in sharing poetry, a window into the divine that reveals deep beauty. Two of Entin’s books of poetry and photography, “Ocean of Love II” and “Meditations,” are in the Sedona library.

■ Gary Every: An award-winning journalist, slam poet, teacher, musician and historian, Every’s poetry has been widely published in literary magazines. As a science fiction author his poetry and fiction have been published for decades, including two published novellas and seven nominations for the Rhysling Award for science fiction poem of the year. After hosting the Pumphouse Poetry and Prose Project literary reading series for eight years and after the COVID-19 pandemic response halted these monthly live shows, Every became the host of the Poetry and Prose Project radio program every Sunday morning on Mellow Mountain Radio in Sedona, featuring local authors and local topics.

■ Clint Frakes: A poet, writer, teacher and naturalist in Sedona, Frakes’s poetry, prose and narrative nonfiction has appeared in over 100 journals, magazines, broadsides, chapbooks and anthologies in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia and Argentina since 1987. He was named one of the 50 Best New Poets of 2008 by former U.S. Poet Laureate Mark Strand. He also received the Josephine Darner Prize in 2008, the James Vaughan Prize in 2006, the Pudding House Chapbook Prize in 2008 and the Peggy Ferris Memorial Prize in 2006. He is the former chief editor of The Hawaii Review and Big Rain. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Naropa University, a master’s degree from Northern Arizona University and a doctorate from the University of Hawaii in 2005. His new collection of poems, “Myths, Beasts & the Ways of Water” is forthcoming in 2025 from Seven Worlds Press.

■ Camille LeFevre: A writer, educator and literary citizen, LeFevre was an arts journalist before returning home to Sedona. She crafts poetry and essays in kinship with the red rock landscape and its diverse inhabitants by delving through strata of personal memory, American Indian history, animal encounters and geological layering from deep time to the present. Writing herself into a red rock landscape of nearly inexpressible poetic significance keeps her sane. Her essay, “Body Topography,” published in The Dodge, was nominated for Best American Nature Writing and Best American Essays. Her work appears in Hydration, Fugue, Unleash Lit, The Winged Moon, Electric Lit, Brevity Blog, Bridge Eight, Thin Air, The Ekphrastic Review and other publications. LeFevre teaches arts writing at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, N.M., and ekphrastic poetry in galleries. She received the 2023 Scuglik Memorial Residency in ekphrastic poetry. Responding to art through poetry — ekphrasis — gives her joy.

■ Tee Pace: A former educator, current writer, photographer and pet sitter originally from Staten Island, N.Y., Pace attended public schools. Pace has completed a poetry chapbook about different types of love and is working on a memoir set on the road about queerness, self-love and starting over.

Youth Poet Laureate Finalists

■ Anya Blue Lior: A sophomore at Verde Valley School and a lifetime resident of Sedona, Lior loves all things creative, but especially reading, writing and sharing poetry. She believes that everyone should be able to appreciate and enjoy poetry and wants to be able to share that with her community. Over her 16 years here, she’s watched Sedona grow and evolve, seen people come and go. Her goal before leaving for college in two years is to give back to the city that raised her and leave her mark on the people here, and sharing the thing she loves with the town she loves is the perfect way to do that.

■ Felicia Elisabeth Grace Foldes: Born and raised in Sedona and currently a 4.0 GPA student at Yavapai College in Clarkdale, Foldes has shared her award-winning poetry with delighted audiences in Sedona since the age of 12. For three continuous years, Foldes placed in the National Garden Club’s Poetry Contest and ultimately became the first-place national winner in her age group for her poem “Home, Sweet Desert Home.” A Junior Ranger at multiple national and Arizona state parks, Foldes credits her love of nature as being the inspiration behind many of her poems. She was a Girl Scout in Sedona for 12 consecutive years, receiving a Silver Award. She earned the Girl Scout Bronze Award for her work in establishing Sedona’s very first “Little Free Library.” Foldes is pursuing her bachelor’s degree and most recently received the Award for Academic Excellence in Communication at Yavapai College. She also works part-time in her family’s Uptown shop.

For more information on the Poet Laureate Program, visit communitylibrarysedona.org/poet-laureate or contact city Arts and Culture Specialist Nancy Lattanzi at (928) 203-5078 or NLattanzi@SedonaAZ.gov.