The new year has brought Cupertino a new poet laureate.
Writer and educator Kaecey McCormick assumed the role this week, succeeding Ann Muto.
The city created the two-year volunteer position in 2010 to promote poetry and other forms of literature. Laureates also are expected to organize poetry-related events, and McCormick says she hopes to engage more residents in the joys of poetry and language arts.
“I know this is a big STEM area; we have a lot of science, technology, engineering, math–a lot of focus on tech–but I’d really like to add ‘a’ back in there with the arts, and show how when you exercise one aspect of your creative muscles, you’re sort of cross-training,” McCormick said, adding she hopes to break through some of the stigmas many have associated with poetry.
“They’re counting syllables, and they are worried about line rhyme, and my role is to say it doesn’t have to be that way. It’s very organic in the way that poetry can come about and what it can do for you,” she said. “If I could change a few minds, that would be great.”
McCormick will be Cupertino’s fifth poet laureate, following in the footsteps of Muto, Amanda Williamsen, Jennifer Swanton Brown and David Denny, the city’s first.
McCormick says her experience in one of the workshops Muto organized motivated her to volunteer herself. “I thought, if I can even do a little bit of that and give back, that would be wonderful,” she said.
McCormick is a freelance writer and an adjunct English professor at Foothill College, where she teaches academic writing.
The San Jose native says she fell in love with poetry as a child. “In school I had a teacher who really made it fun, so that piqued my interest, but I was always one of these kids who was on the playground making up stories for people,” she added.
She received her bachelor’s degree at UCLA and a master’s of fine arts at Lindenwood University, and has worked as a poetry editor at two journals.
Her writing has been published in a number of literary journals and magazines, including Linden Avenue Literary Journal and the Red Earth Review. She is preparing a book of poems for publication entitled “Sugar & Spice: Growing up Girl.”
McCormick lives in Cupertino with her husband and four daughters, all of whom attend school in the city.
McCormick says she hopes to build upon her predecessors’ activities, which have included community poetry reading and writing sessions, as well as trips to schools to teach poetry. “The idea is to enrich the lives of citizens through poetry, so we’re tasked with doing anything the poet laureate sees fit to do that,” she said.
“One of my goals during my time as [poet laureate] is to introduce the multifaceted aspect of poetry by showcasing unexpected ways we encounter and can use poetry in our everyday lives,” she said, pointing out that even something as familiar and commonplace as song lyrics are a form of poetry.
A growing roster of upcoming events now includes a poetry event focused on the Chinese Lunar New Year, a teaching series examining different varieties of poetic forms, a word collage poetry activity for seniors, and a poetry contest.
The poet laureate also acts as a hub for creative activity in the city, and McCormick says she will be available to help those who want to pursue their own community art projects get access to city resources, whether they need some extra publicity or just a room at the Quinlan Community Center.
The city will hold a reception to mark the passage of the poet laureate baton from Muto to McCormick on Jan. 25 at the Cupertino Senior Citizen Center.
