Lee Herrick (born 1970) is a Korean American poet, writer and professor, who was appointed to be Poet Laureate of the State of California, the first Asian American to hold the position, by governor

Gavin Newsom Gavin Christopher Newsom ( ; born October 10, 1967) is an American politician and businessman serving since 2019 as the 40th governor of California. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served from 2011 to 201 ...

in 2022.

Biography

Herrick is ethnic

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, people from the Korean peninsula or of Korean descent * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Korean **Korean dialects **See also: North–South differences in t ...

and was born in 1970 in

Daejeon Daejeon (; ) is South Korea's list of cities in South Korea, fifth-largest metropolis, with a population of nearly 1.5 million. Located in a central lowland valley between the Sobaek Mountains and the Geum River, the city is known both as a ...

. He was found on the steps of a church, and was adopted by an American couple in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

at age ten months. Herrick grew up in Danville and

Modesto, California Modesto ( ; ) is the county seat and largest city of Stanislaus County, California, United States. With a population of 218,069 according to 2022 United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau estimates, it is the List of cities and towns in Ca ...

, where he became interested in literature. After graduating from high school, he went on to attend

Modesto Junior College Modesto Junior College (MJC) is a public community college in Modesto, California. It is part of Yosemite Community College District along with Columbia College. MJC, and Columbia College, belong to the California Community College system al ...

. Herrick lives in

Fresno Fresno (; ) is a city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County, California, Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley (California), Central Valley region. It covers a ...

, and has taught English at

Fresno City College Fresno City College (FCC or "Fresno City") is a public community college in Fresno, California. It is part of the State Center Community College District within the California Community Colleges system. Fresno City College operates on a semeste ...

since 1997. He has also taught at the Low-Residency

Master of Fine Arts A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.) is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts admi ...

program of study at the University of Nevada, Reno at Lake Tahoe. He served as the Fresno Poet Laureate from 2015 to 2017. In 2015, he co-founded LitHop, an annual literary arts festival in the city. In 2015, Herrick stated that one of his biggest influences was Andrés Montoya. As the California Poet Laureate, he started the "Our California" initiative which invites Californians to write a poem about their city, town, or about the state and explore what they love, what they would change, or what they hope for it.

Published works

* * * * As coeditor: *

External links

Official website of Lee Herrick

Governor Newsom Appoints California Poet Laureate

From High Schools to Prisons: Why California's Poet Laureate is Always on the Road

Herrick and his wife Lisa at StoryCorps

How a Poet Was Made: On Adoption, Race and Discovering Voice on California Revealed

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Herrick, Lee Living people 1970 births American poets of Asian descent American people of Korean descent People from Daejeon Fresno City College faculty University of Nevada, Reno faculty