Willits Community Theatre Presents an Evening with Poet Laureate Devreaux Baker
Saturday, October 11 • 7 pm
Willits Community Theatre, 37 West Van Lane — Admission by donation
Join us for a special evening with Devreaux Baker, the inaugural Poet Laureate of Mendocino County. Baker will offer a reading of her poetry, followed by an open mic, welcoming community voices to join in. Entry is by donation, and no one will be turned away for lack of funds.
A long-time resident of the Mendocino Coast, Devreaux Baker has steadily earned recognition as a poetic voice deeply rooted in place, nature, and human connection. She is the author of Red Willow People, Beyond the Circumstance of Sight, Light at the Edge, and Hungry Ghosts, out of the bones of earth.
Her work has garnered numerous awards, among them the PEN/Oakland Josephine Miles Poetry Award, multiple Barbara Mandigo Kelly Peace Poetry Prizes, the Steve Kowit Poetry Prize, the Willie Morris Award for Southern Poetry, and the Hawaii Council on Humanities International Poetry Prize.
Baker’s literary achievements are complemented by her commitment to community and mentoring. As Poet Laureate (a post she began in June 2024), she is editing Spirit of Place: Mendocino County Women Poets Anthology, a follow-up to the 1999 anthology she helped co-edit, Wood, Water, Air & Fire.
She has also taught poetry through the California Poets in the Schools program, and produced the Voyagers radio program of original student writing for KZYX.
Her life journey is intertwined with the landscape she writes about. Originally from Texas, she arrived on the Mendocino Coast as a young adult and fell in love with the region.
Over the years, she has balanced her work as a writer with a career in education and counseling, helping students discover their own voices through writing.
We invite you to come, listen, and share in a night of poetic resonance—a celebration of place, voice, and community.
Also check out other Arts events in Willits, Literary Art events in Willits, Theatre events in Willits.
