Joanna S. Lee was announced as the new Poet Laureate of Richmond, Virginia, at the Visual Arts Center Poetry Fest on April 13th. The position was created in the summer of 2020 in response to the Covid-19 epidemic. Deputy Chief Administrative Officer for Richmond Human Services, Reggie Gordon, said the city should continually embrace the arts as an avenue for hope and encouragement. “The Poet Laureate will give us another opportunity to use the power of words to heal wounds, open hearts and minds and weave us closer together.”
Joanna holds a Doctor of Medicine degree but chose to practice healing through poetry instead. She has started numerous poetry venues in addition to founding River City Poets and has served on the board of James River Writers. Her poems have been widely published in magazines and anthologies. She is a co-editor of Lingering in the Margins: A River City Poet's Anthology and the author of Dissections.
Every fourth Friday, including this Friday, April 26th, Joanna and her husband, John, host an open mic poetry reading at Café Zata, 700 Bainbridge Street, Richmond, VA 23224. Signup begins at 6:30.
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