Vallejo Poet Laureate Jacalyn Eyvonne

Vallejo Poet Laureate Jacalyn Eyvonne


Jacalyn Eyvonne, Co-Poet Laureate (2024-2026)

Jacalyn Eyvonne and Kathleen Herrmann, Vallejo's Co-Poets Laureate
Jacalyn Eyvonne and Kathleen Herrmann, Vallejo’s Co-Poets Laureate

Contact information for booking Vallejo Co-Poet Laureate Jacalyn Eyvonne: JacalynEvone@gmail.com

Vallejo Poet Laureate Jacalyn Eyvonne


Jacalyn Eyvonne is a widely published poet whose work has appeared in the The Oakland Tribune, and in the anthologies, Sistah’s With Ink (2013) and Wheelsong Poetry Anthology 3 (Wheelsong, United Kingdom, 2023). She is the author of several books, including I Am Not An Inconsequential Word(2022), Venting to Verse (2023), and has two forthcoming poetry collections, The Unyielding Weight of Words and The World in Black and Words. In addition her poem “The Talk” won 2nd place at the Jackson Book Festival poetry competition in Mississippi.

Jacalyn is also a multi-talented visual artist with extensive experience in filmmaking, television production, and photography, and earned a Bachelor’s degree in Motion Pictures & Television from Academy of Art University at San Francisco.  Based in Oakland in the 1990s she edited and published several volumes of the national magazine In the Company of Poets which she later transformed into a television show of the same name, producing several seasons that featured and interviewed a wide variety of spoken word artists. She currently organizes and hosts the Poetry and Monologues and KidsNFilm film festivals, and has an exhibit melding photography and poetry currently on display at the McCune. Jacalyn will be the city’s second African-American poet laureate. Visit Jacalyn’s website at: http://jacalyneyvonne.com

Since becoming poet laureate Jacalyn Eyvonne has co-hosted an open mic via Zoom for the Monologues and Poetry Film Festival, performed at the Mad Hatter Holiday Festival, Black History Month at the JFK Library, Black History Month at the Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum, A Poetry Affair in Fairfield, featured at Alameda Island Poets, Art Walk, Alibi Bookshop, Earth Daze Festival, Visions of the Wild, and Vallejo Museum.

03122024 Proclamation Honoring Jacalyn Eyvonne as Co-Poet LaureateDownload

Bibliography

Published poems:

  • November 12, 1991, “It’s Magic!” Oakland Tribune
  • March 8, 2024 “Rise and Shine,” Vallejo Weekly Vol. 12, No. 10

Her bibliography includes:

  • Strange Things Happen At Midnight: Murder, Suspense, and Short Weird Tales, JE Books, 2020, ISBN 9781735493626
  • I Am Not An Inconsequential Word: Poetry & Remnants, JE Books, 2022, ISBN 9781735493633
  • Venting To Verse: How To Turn Anger Into Poetry, JE Books, 2023, ISBN 9781735493664
  • The Unyielding Weight of Words: Poems for Reflection, Healing, and Love, Soulstanzas Books, 2024, ISBN 9798989505005

She is a contributor to:

  • Sistah’s With Ink Voices, CreateSpace, 2013, ISBN 9781491087503
  • Wheelsong Poetry Anthology 3, Wheelsong Books, United Kingdom, 2023, ISBN 9798860877658
  • Holes: An Anthology of Poems about Depths, Darkness, and Desire, JLRB Press, 2024, ISBN 9781738894963
  • World Healing, World Peace 2024 Inner Child Press. 2024. ISBN 9781961498235
  • Wheelsong Poetry Anthology 4, Wheelsong Books, United Kingdom, 2024, ISBN 9798323753000
  • A poetic field filled with Wildwood Flowers: An anthology of poetry and prose 2024. ISBN 9798864490204
  • Rituals: Summer 2024. Anomaly. 2024. ISBN 9798328315364
  • Screaming at America! An anthology of Dissent 2024. ISBN 9781304408112
  • Hues of Spring: A Festival of Colours, Volume 2 NYRA Publishers. 2024. ISBN 9788197099656
  • Animal Tales Table Rock Poetry Festival. 2024. ISBN Unknown
  • A Decade of Poetic Unity: Celebrating Vallejo’s Poets Laureate 2025. ISBN 9798328345736
  • Orange is not a Colour: Poems Against Totalitarianism Like a Blot from the Blue. 2025. ISBN 9781300302674

She was the editor of In the Company of Poets Magazine, releasing 12 issues between January 1991 and December 1992.

Selected Press

Poets Laureate of Vallejo, California

Click the links below to read biographies for the each Vallejo poet laureate: