Cementing Benicia’s status as a poetry friendly town, California Poet Laureate Dana Gioia will be coming to Benicia on April 18 to perform some of his poetry.

Gioia was born in Hawthorne and graduated from Stanford University, where he edited Stanford’s literary journal Sequoia Magazine. After graduating from business school in 1977, he worked at General Foods where he eventually became vice president of marketing. During his time at General Foods, he wrote poetry on the side. In 1991, his essay “Can Poetry Matter?” was published in The Atlantic and he quit his job shortly after to become a full-time writer.

Gioia’s works have been published in The New Yorker and The Hudson Review, and he has published several collections, one of which– “Interrogations at Noon”– won the American Book Award in 2002. He also was chairman of the National Endowment of the Arts from 2003 to 2009, teaches poetry at The University of Southern California and was named the state’s poet laureate in 2015.

This event at the Benicia Public Library is free and open to the public, but reservations must be made in advance. Interested attendees must register with the library as soon as possible to ensure seats. Simply go to benicialibrary.org, click on “About Library,” go to the “Poet Laureate” sidebar, click on “Poetry Events” and scroll down to “Special Events,” click on “register,” fill out the form and submit. If you would rather register in person, stop by the library or call 746-4343 extension 2.

The event will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 18 in the library’s Dona Benicia Room. The library is located at 150 East L St. For more information, contact Benicia’s Poet Laureate Johanna Ely at jelyabc13@yahoo.com.

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