Village Poets of Sunland-Tujunga will feature renowned poet Ron Koertge on Feb. 22 at 4:30 p.m. at Bolton Hall Museum. There will also be an open mic and poets are invited to participate in the open reading segment of the event. The Bolton Hall Museum is located at 10110 Commerce Ave. in Tujunga. Bolton Hall is a Los Angeles historical landmark built in 1913. The reading starts at 4:30 p.m. and goes till 6:30 p.m. Light refreshments will be served. Please visit the Village Poets blog for more information about the feature and to read some of Koertge’s poems: https://villagepoets.blogspot.com/.

Ron Koertge lives and writes in South Pasadena. He was appointed poet laureate of South Pasadena in 2018. Koertge taught at Pasadena City College for 37 years, retiring as professor emeritus. A prolific writer, he began his poetry career in what was then known as the little magazines, like The Wormwood Review and Poetry Now. 

A chance encounter with an author of young adult novels led him into writing for middle grade readers and young adults. His Stoner & Spaz is still the “most stolen book” from libraries’ teen sections. 

In the last 40 or so years, he has written many books for young readers and won two PEN awards. His most recent books are co-authored with Gary Schmidt:  A Day at the Beach and Styx & Stones, a fantasy novel due out this spring. 

Always restless, he is also the author of a dozen books of poetry. He is grateful for grants from the NEA and the California Arts Council and is a winner of a Pushcart Prize in 2018. Koertge’s recent books of poems are I Dreamed I Was Emily Dickinson’s Boyfriend, Yellow Moving Van, and Pandora’s Kitchen. An entertaining and dynamic reader, Billy Collins calls him “sly, inventive and deeply good-hearted.”  

Koertge is also the author of Negative Space, short-listed for an Oscar in animated short films.