Teen Poetry Workshop at the South Pasadena Public Library

Published on March 27, 2025

The South Pasadena Public Library will host a Teen Poetry Workshop, led by South Pasadena Poet Laureate Ron Koertge, on April 22, from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in the Library Community Room at 1115 El Centro Street, South Pasadena. Teens will have an opportunity to ask questions about writing and publishing poetry, to be inspired and respond to a writing prompt, and to read their poem and receive feedback from a renowned expert.

A prolific writer, Ron Koertge began publishing poetry in the sixties and seventies in such seminal magazines as Kayak, Poetry Now, and The Wormwood Review. He has published more than twenty books of poetry so far, and his poems continue to appear in independent poetry journals. His recent books include Yellow Moving Van (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2018), Olympusville (Red Hen Press, 2018), and Vampire Planet (Red Hen Press, 2016). In 2018 a film based on Ron's prose poem "Negative Space," created by Ru Kuwahata and Max Porter, was nominated for an Academy Award in the category Best Animated Short Film. Ron was a faculty member for more than 35 years at Pasadena

City College. He also taught in the MFA in Writing for Children & Young Adults program at Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota. Ron's poems have appeared in two Best American Poetry anthologies (1999 and 2005) and he won a Pushcart Prize in 2017. He is the recipient of grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the California Arts Council. Ron is also the author of many celebrated novels for young adults, including Coaltown Jesus, Stoner & Spaz, and Shakespeare Bats Cleanup.

The South Pasadena Public Library is located at 1100 Oxley Street in South Pasadena. Visit the Library website at www.southpasadenaca.gov/library for information about services and programs. The Library is open Monday, Friday, Saturday 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. and Sunday 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Upon request made no later than four business days before the event, the City will provide a reasonable accommodation for a qualified person with a disability to have equal access to the event. Please call (626) 403-7431 or fill out the City’s request form available at www.southpasadenaca.gov/ADA and email the form to Human Resources at HR@southpasadenaca.gov.