New poet laureate
The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors last month appointed San Jose resident Yosimar Reyes to the honorary post of Santa Clara County Poet Laureate for a two-year term ending Dec. 31, 2025.
In this role, Reyes will help promote the art of poetry at local community events, including during National Poetry Month, represent the county through poetry- related outreach and act as a resource for the Santa Clara County Library District.
Reyes draws inspiration in his work from his personal experiences as an immigrant from Guerrero, Mexico and as a member of the LGBTQ+ community. He is a former Lambda Literary Fellow and Undocupoets Fellow who has toured across the country delivering keynote addresses, leading writing workshops and performing his one-man show “Prieto,” a coming-of-age story about migration, sexuality and socioeconomic struggle.
Yosimar’s writings have appeared in multiple online journals and poetry compilations, including “Mariposas: A Modern Anthology of Queer Latino Poetry,” “Somewhere we are Human: Authentic Voices on Migration, Survival, and New Beginnings” and the forthcoming “UndocuPoetics: An Introduction.”
“I am a proud product of an undocumented immigrant community in Eastside San Jose,” Reyes said in a statement. “It is an honor to represent us in such an esteemed position.”
Reyes is the county’s eighth poet laureate and will receive a modest honorarium. For more information, visit sccld.org/poet.
Credit where it’s due
The San Jose Evergreen Community College District recently received full reaffirmation of the accreditation status for both Evergreen Valley College and San Jose City College. A letter from the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges reups both campuses’ status for seven years, noting no compliance requirements or recommendations for improving the district’s institutional effectiveness.
As part of the next seven-year accreditation cycle, both Colleges will provide midterm reports to the commission on Oct. 15, 2027.
