The poetry monthly was founded by Ella Wen, Sonoma County’s Youth Poet Laureate (2021-2023). She is a senior at Maria Carrillo High School and has written poetry since second grade.

Her work has transformed from writing about llamas to advocating for arts education equity, gender equality, anti-violence, and communal empathy. She is greatly inspired by her grandfather, who first introduced poetry to her when reading Chinese poems with her when she was two years old in her hometown in Minnesota.

Her poetry entered a new era when she competed in Poetry Out Loud, where she discovered that poetry can be a vocal performance with an audience––that poetry is influence.

She has since served as her county’s Youth Poet Laureate, where she has written and performed poems for her community in senior events, protests, education conferences, memorials, theater openings, and more. She has also taught original poetry workshops for local elementary, middle, and high schools. Her number one aspiration is to embolden others to voice their stories.

In her free time, she loves cooking for her community, hanging out with loved ones, and doing anything crafts-related. She finds that poetry has inspired her to cultivate a relationship with herself, the realm of art, and the ever-changing world.