Lee Herrick

Poet

Fresno, CA
California US

Author's Bio

Lee Herrick is the California Poet Laureate. He is the author of In Praise of Late Wonder: New and Selected Poems (Gunpowder Press, 2024) and three other books of poems, Scar and Flower, Gardening Secrets of the Dead, and This Many Miles from Desire. His writing appears widely, in Here: Poems for the Planet, with an introduction by the Dalai Lama; Indivisible: Poems of Social Justice, with an introduction by Common; and Dear America: Letters of Hope, Habitat, Defiance, and Democracy, among others. Born in Daejeon, Korea and adopted to the United States at ten months, he lives and teaches in Fresno, California. He is the 10th California Poet Laureate, the first to be officially reappointed to a second-term, and the first Asian American to serve in the role.

Publications & Prizes

Anthologies:
Poetry Goes to the Movies (Beyond Baroque Books, 2025)
,
Dear America: Letters of Hope, Habitat, Defiance, and Democracy (Trinity University Press, 2020)
,
HERE: Poetry for the Planet (Copper Canyon Press, 2019)
,
One for the Money (Lynx House Press, 2012)
,
The Place That Inhabits Us: Poems from the San Francisco Bay Watershed (Sixteen Rivers Press, 2010)
,
Highway 99: A Literary Journey Through California's Great Central Valley, 2nd edition (Heyday Books, 2007)
,
Hurricane Blues: Poems About Katrina and Rita Ravaged a Nation (Southeast Missouri State University Press, 2006)
,
Seeds from a Silent Tree: Writings by Korean Adoptees (Pandal Press, 1997)
Books:
In Praise of Late Wonder: New and Selected Poems (Gunpowder Press, 2024)
,
The World I Leave You: Asian American Poets on Faith and Spirit (Orison Books, 2020)
,
Scar and Flower (WordTech Editions, 2019)
,
Gardening Secrets of the Dead (WordTech Editions, 2013)
,
This Many Miles from Desire (WordTech Editions, 2007)
Journals: ,
Bloomsbury Review
,
Haight-Ashbury Literary Journal
, ,
Willow Review
,
Prizes won: 

California Poet Laureate, appointed in 2022 by Governor Gavin Newsom. Reappointed by Governor Newsom in 2025.

Fresno Poet Laureate, 2015-2017

More Information

Gives readings: 
Yes
Travels for readings: 
Yes
Identifies as: 
Korean American
Prefers to work with: 
Adults, At Risk Youth, Immigration, Schools, Teachers
Fluent in: 
English
Born in: 
Daejeon
South Korea
Raised in: 
Danville and Modesto, CA
California
Please note: All information in the Directory is provided by the listed writers or their representatives.
Last update: Jul 29, 2025