Joseph Rios
City of Fresno Poet Laureate (2023-2025)
On Thursday, April 20, 2023, Joseph Rios was proclaimed the sixth City of Fresno Poet Laureate at the Fresno City Council meeting. He will serve as a cultural ambassador for Fresno’s poetry community effective immediately until March 31, 2025. FAC celebrated Joseph Rios at a reception at Fresno Arts Council Thursday, April 20th.
Mayor Jerry Dyer has appointed Fresno poet, Joseph Rios, as Fresno’s sixth Poet Laureate. Rios will be honored at City Hall with a Proclamation during Fresno City Council’s April 20th meeting at 9:00am. He will recite an original poem for Fresno following the proclamation. The appointment serves as a culminating event to National Poetry Month.
Joseph Rios is the author of Shadowboxing: Poems and Impersonations (Omnidawn), winner of the American Book Award and was named one of the Notable Debut Poets by Poets & Writers Magazine for 2017. His poems can be found at Poem A Day, Huizache, The Rumpus, the San Francisco Chronicle, and on Metro buses and trains in Los Angeles. He was recently named a Stegner Fellow by Stanford University. He lives in Fresno.
Joseph Rios appointed Fresno Poet Laureate. Watch the confirmation and hear Rios read his original poem for Fresno, “Fresno Is” below.
Joseph Rios appointed the City of Fresno’s 6th Poet Laureate Thursday, April 20, 2023.
