EL CERRITO POET LAUREATE dani Gabriel (2018-2020)
El Cerrito resident Danielle (Dani) Gabriel was selected to serve as the City's second Poet Laureate (2018-2020). Dani Gabriel is a poet and writer, the author of “The Woman You Write Poems About” (Civil Defense Press) and coauthor of “Molotov Mouths” (Manic D Press), as well as a manuscript in progress called “Low Rent Prophet.” Her work centers around an obsession with possibility: the possibility that we can heal the world, the possibility that we can heal ourselves. She looks at themes of queerness, faith, trauma, justice, and family with curiosity and depth. She is a postulant for the Diaconate in the Episcopal Diocese of California, aspiring to ordination and service in the church and community. She works as a grant writer and writing teacher throughout the Bay Area. She is the parent of two amazing pre-teens and the partner of a fantastic cook, electrician, and human being. She is currently writing and organizing for radical change large and small.
On April 30, 2021, Dani's book of poetry,
Low Rent Prophet, was released. It can be
ordered here through Nomadic Press. Visit
Dani’s website to learn more about her work.
EL CERRITO POET LAUREATE Maw Shein Win (2016-2018)
El Cerrito resident Maw Shein Win was selected to serve as the City's FIRST Poet Laureate (2016-2018). Maw Shein Win is a Burmese American poet, editor, and educator who lives and works in the Bay Area. Her writing has appeared in many journals and several anthologies, including
Cimarron Review,
Fanzine,
The Fabulist, and others. She was an Artist in Residence at Headlands Center for the Arts and is a member of the San Francisco Writers’ Grotto. She often collaborates with visual artists, musicians, and other writers, and her chapbook,
Ruins of a glittering palace, was published by SPA/Commonwealth Projects. Her most recent poetry chapbook is
Score and Bone on Nomadic Press in Oakland. Win’s poetry was featured in artist Megan Wilson’s mural,
Flower Interruption, a public artwork in the special exhibition
Flower Power at San Francisco's Asian Art Museum. Her full-length poetry collection,
Invisible Gifts, was published by Manic D Press in spring 2018 and can be ordered through
Win's website.
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