2 Lake County Poet Laureates’ work goes beyond the written word

When you think of Lake County, its namesake Clear Lake, no doubt springs to mind. But there's an entirely different side to the landscape laden with lakes, hiking trails and wine tasting, that is its burgeoning arts scene — specifically its poets.

Lake County Poet Laureate program began in 1998 through the Lake County Board of Supervisors. The role of a poet laureate is to represent and promote poetry and literacy within the community through outlets like readings, classes, poetry events, book clubs or writer's groups, poetry podcasts and contests.

These two humble and hard-working Lake County Poet Laureates have different stories, but there’s a common thread between Carlolyn Wing Greenlee and Georgina Marie Guardado that goes beyond their love of the written word. It’s their dedication to work in the arts and how they’re overcoming adversity.

The women’s individual projects and poetry styles are distinctive and prolific. They both explore their individual heritages, the paradox of suffering, miraculous surprises in nature, love and grief and more through their poetry.

Guardado, Lake County's current and 11th poet laureate, was raised in Lakeport. She began writing poems for her mother in kindergarten. Then, as a teenager, she discovered and connected with Sylvia Plath’s poetry. The writings made Guardado feel seen and she identified with Plath’s themes of depression, angst and trauma.

"Poetry is truly my passion and it’s such a part of my life that it is ingrained in so much that I do,“ she said. ”Any hardship, intimacy, grief, joy, etc. that I experience at some point ends up in poetry. Or I read poetry for comfort or fulfillment."

In 2018, at 30 years old, she created an initial poetry chapbook, “Finding the Roots of Water” and a second in 2019, called “Treespeak“.

Greenlee, who was poet laureate from 2004–2005 at 57, took a similar approach to her work.

"A poem is a vessel that can hold our sorrows and still leave room for others to climb in and find their place,“ she said.

The poet, who majored in comparative literature with a specialty in poetry at Occidental College, then in creative writing with an emphasis on poetry in grad school at UC Davis, used what she knew as inspiration. Her father, born in the Central Valley town of Lodi, was the son of an acupuncturist and herbalist. She has used that inspiration for her work “Wildflowers in the Snow”, “Inside the Oy Quong Laundry”, “And this is How I Lived” and “Eternal River”. Over her career that spans decades, she has authored dozens of books and owns a publishing company called Earthen Vessel Productions.

“In the early 1990s, I began writing the six-generation memoirs of my mother’s family and it opened doors to speak across the nation on the Chinese American experience,” Greenlee said.

Work as Lake County laureates

Throughout her term as poet laureate, Guardado has held countless poetry readings and events across the county at libraries, museums, schools and art venues.

“Our collaboration with current poet laureate Georgina Marie Guardado over the past year has been wonderful,” said Clark McAbee, curator at Museums of the County of Lake. “Our staff and visitors have thoroughly enjoyed her engaging events.”

When Greenlee was poet laureate she taught poetry at local schools. She was a guest poetry reader at universities, literary festivals, literary gatherings, and read at Women Writing the West conferences.

Using their voice for podcasts, music

On top of her poetry, Greenlee is a musician. She writes, sings, plays piano, guitar and is a percussionist.

She, along with her creative partner, Dan Worley, have collaborated on music and books.

Their latest is a remaster of "Tied To the Stone: Time of Light", is a light rock album with tracks that are uplifting while other are moody with honest looks at lost youth, the power of love and loss.

The two are also working on a sci-fi piece for kids.

"We wanted to write something that is safe for kids to read — something dealing with real life problems where the characters are ordinary humans without superpowers,“ she said, ”They learn, they grow, they do heroic things because they care about their community and their family."

Like Greenlee, Guardado takes to the mic to connect with her audience. She has been able to connect and interview fellow creatives like beat poet Clive Matson on her podcast, “Rooted in Poetry.”

Working hard in their communities

Both women have inclusivity in mind, which goes into their work and beyond.

Guardado, is the president of the Mendocino Coast Writers' Conference, literary editor at the Lake County Bloom and is an advisory member for the County of Lake Community Visioning whose goal is to promote to diversity, equity and inclusion countywide.

Greenlee feels that she has been successful at accomplishing more inclusion for both the blind and Chinese communities through her various works. Greenly was diagnosed with Retinitis pigmentosa, a hereditary eye disease in which the retina is damaged. She has been legally blind since 1985 and uses aids to help with daily tasks.

"I am grateful for these aids. Without them, I could not continue to write or read. You don’t realize ... how crippling it is not to be able to understand the marks on the paper in front of your face, or a label, or a sign post, or a price tag, or a note from your child’s teacher,“ she said.

She’s quick to remind people how important health is.

“Take good care of your eyes. Never take them for granted,” she said. “May you remember to enjoy the pleasure of receiving meaning and new ideas through your eyes and some marks on a page. It’s such a wonder, and such a wonderful thing to be able to do."

She’s written about this experience, too.

“’If I Have Seen', my new book of poetry has poems about the loss of vision, and also the challenges and joys of having a guide dog,” Greenlee said. “'Steady Hedy' is the story of my descent into blindness and the 28 days at guide dog school where my worst nightmare became the source of my greatest healing."

She also dedicated time to help honor Lake County’s diverse population.

"I met Carolyn Wing Greenlee when I first got to Lake County and we hit it off immediately as fellow researchers and historians,“ said McAbee. ”She is a strong supporter of our museums and was excited we were creating a permanent Chinese heritage exhibit in the Courthouse Museum in Lakeport.“

He added, Greenlee donated her collection of Chinese and Asian history binders and approximately 80 books on the subject to the museum’s research library which would have helped with the exhibit. The two were in the process of setting up an exhibit on the history of Chinese residents in Lake County, then COVID-19 put a halt to that once health protocols and social distancing were mandated.

Paying it forward, looking ahead

During her time as Lake County Poet Laureate, Guardado won a fellowship worth $50,000 through the Academy of American Poets. According to the website, the fellowship was established in 1936 and was the first award of its kind in the United States. Fellows are selected by majority vote of the Academy’s Board of Chancellors.

"This was an incredible honor, to say the least. It was one thing to become my county’s poet laureate, and it was a whole other to be recognized by the largest supporter of poetry in the nation,“ she said. ”I’ve followed the Academy of American Poets for years, reading their Poem-a-Day series nearly everyday ... being included in an amazing cohort and being recognized by such acclaimed poets was an amazing opportunity and experience.“

Guardado said the fellowship money will go toward supporting her writing and will help with attending workshops. She also plans on using some of her fellowship money to pay it forward to the Lake County community.

“A portion of the large financial award was to be spent toward a civic project directly impacting my community,” she said. “The project I chose was to install poetry display boxes and little poetry libraries all around the county to make poetry accessible to everyone, and to beautify our county."

In Lake County words overflow from these pert poetry boxes placed outside various businesses, allowing poetry to blossom.

The process of taking ordinary words and placing them in a jigsaw puzzle to present the story of a particular time and place seems to flow from the two poet laureates. And their work itself, is meticulously crafted to reflect the blue of a beautiful day or, conversely the blue of a particular mood. These poets generously work to share, invite and include the public in efforts to navigate the complex world in which we live.