Goodbye, Hello to Poet Laureates

Come meet Modesto's new poet laureate, Gillian Wegener, and say goodbye to the outgoing poet laureate, Ed Bearden, at a reception Aug. 4. The free program runs from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the McHenry Museum, 1402 I St.

Wegener was appointed poet laureate for 2012-14 by the Modesto City Council last month. A resident of Stanislaus County since 1991, she is a teacher at Oakdale Junior High School. She earned a master's degree in writing, with an emphasis on poetry, from the University of San Francisco.

She started monthly poetry readings at the Barkin' Dog Grill in Modesto in 2009, and co-edited the anthology "More Than Soil, More Than Sky: The Modesto Poets" with Stella Beratlis and former poet laureates Sam Pierstorff and Bearden.

In 2007, she won the $10,000 top prize in the national Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Annual Poetry Contest. Bearden was the Modesto poet laureate for 2008-2012. Previous poet laureates were Pierstorff (2004-2008), debee loyd (2000-2004), Arlene Silva Mattos (1996-2000) and Jeannette Gould Maino (1994-95).