Phyllis Meshulam is Poet Laureate Emerita for Sonoma County, California, a county with a population comparable in size to that of Wyoming.
During her 2020–2022 tenure, she conceived of and coedited The Freedom of New Beginnings, an anthology of poems from across the county and beyond on issues of justice and sustainability.
She is author of Land of My Father’s War, winner of an Artists Embassy International Prize, 2019, published by Cherry Grove Collections. Joy Harjo, US Poet Laureate, said of Meshulam’s book, an “urgency of spirit has emerged eloquently here in these poems of perception and even prophecy. . . .” Meshulam has authored four other titles, and she taught for California Poets in the Schools for 21 years. She also edited CalPoets’ Poetry Crossing, which Poetry Flash called “a joyful collection of lessons and poems.”
She has an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts and a BA from Pomona College.
Paperback: 104 pages
Publisher: Kelsay Books (February 19, 2025)