San Mateo County Poet Laureate Antonio De Jesús López Receives National Award from Academy of American Poets

REDWOOD CITY - Antonio De Jesús López, San Mateo County's Poet Laureate, has been selected as one of 22 poets nationwide to receive a 2026 Poet Laureate Fellowship from the Academy of American Poets.

In announcing the award, the academy highlighted his series of trauma-informed poetry workshops in San Mateo County correctional facilities. His project, One County Under Bars, will be released as an anthology in partnership with Paloma Press and whose co-founder Aileen Cassinetto served as San Mateo County Poet Laureate from 2019-2022.

López has written numerous poetry collections, many of which explore the experiences of Latinx communities navigating culture, education and opportunity in the United States, as well as themes of identity, belonging and social justice.

López will receive a $50,000 fellowship recognizing literary excellence and enabling poets laureate to undertake community poetry projects.

"The laureateship is a sacred oath: to serve as an ambassador of poetry for the voices left out of this ancient tradition even though they have always been part of it," López said.

"In San Mateo County, that means carrying poems to the students inside Maple Street Correctional Center in Redwood City and County Jail #3 in San Bruno. It means preaching the gospel of Pablo Neruda at the Half Moon Bay Library. It means debating with a roomful of señoras the versatility of the word 'comadre' at the North Fair Oaks Community Center. All of this is to understand that ours is an unfinished experiment to expand the franchise, and that the franchise includes poetry. It must."

The Board of Supervisors appointed López to a two-year term as Poet Laureate in 2025.

"Antonio's recognition by the Academy of American Poets reflects the power of his work to elevate the voices of the rich, diverse perspectives of those often unheard through poetry and creative expression," said Board of Supervisors President Noelia Corzo. "San Mateo County is proud to have a Poet Laureate whose work is recognized on the national stage and reminds the soul of our country that every person's experience is worth listening to."

López is the son of immigrants from Michoacán, México, who moved to East Palo Alto in the 1980s. The first in his family to graduate from college, he later served on the East Palo Alto City Council and as mayor.

He recently received a doctorate from Stanford University in Modern Thought and Literature and currently serves as Director of Research and Advocacy at Ayudando Latinos a Soñar at Ayudando Latinos A Soñar, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting farmworkers, immigrant families and the Coastside community.

López is the author of Gentefication, selected by Pulitzer Prize winner Gregory Pardlo for the 2019 Levis Prize in Poetry and published by Four Way Books, with The Right to Remain Violets forthcoming from the University of Arizona Press in 2027.

"Poets laureate bring poetry out into public life, where language can help people feel less alone and more connected to one another," said Robert Casper, president and executive director of the Academy of American Poets.

On Tuesday, López will give his quarterly poetry reading before the Board of Supervisors and is expected to read from 'Vows for Madeline,' written for his wedding in Brooklyn this summer.

"For always humoring me
For helping me unlearn the violence of my past.
For teaching me that love could carry me across a culture, a country. And so I vow, mi chulada, mi esposa, mi chuparrosa: To tend to you the way my grandmothers tend to a flame."

López's reading is expected to begin shortly after the Board of Supervisors meeting convenes at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 11. Members of the public may attend in person in the Board Chambers, 500 County Center, First Floor, Redwood City, or watch live via Zoom. Zoom access information is available on the meeting agenda.

Aimee Shapiro
Office of Arts and Culture
[email protected]