David Bromige never planned on being a poet.
But, after 40 years and 30 books, he's come to accept the idea. Now the retired SSU professor will be honored as Sonoma County's Poet Laureate at a reception in his honor at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 1 at the Sonoma County Public Library in Santa Rosa.
"I've been writing poetry for over 40 years, with increasing dedication," said Bromige, "At first, you know, I thought all I wanted was to see if I could write a poem -- fool someone into believing it was poem, even if only myself. (Un) fortunately, one of my first attempts was published and awarded a prize. Soon I was hooked"
The ceremony will include readings by Bromige as well as Sonoma County's first Poet Laureate, Don Emblen. The event is free and open to the public.
Bromige, a resident of Sonoma County for over 30 years, has been publishing his poetry since the early 1960's. After earning his graduate degrees in English at UC Berkeley and teaching at various other universities, he began commuting to teach at Sonoma State. Finally he moved to Sonoma County. From 1970 to 1993, he taught some 2,000 students at SSU, and over 50 of them have gone on to publish books of their own.
Bromige has been honored with numerous awards, including the Pushcart Prize for Poetry (1980), the NEA Discovery Award in Poetry (1969), and The Gertrude Stein Award in Innovative Writing (1994 & 1997). He was named Poet Laureate of all University of California campuses (1965) and in 1994 was awarded the Sonoma County "Living Treasure" Award.
He says he is proud to be a "living treasure" of Sonoma County. But he says comically, "I keep praying not to be a buried treasure for a couple years yet."
Curently, he lives in Sebastopol with his wife Cecelia Belle and daughter Margaret, a high school sophomore. His son, Chris, teaches high school in Vancouver, BC.
The reception is being hosted by the Literary Arts Guild, the Sonoma County Public Library, and the Sebastopol Center for the Arts.
For more information, call the Literary Arts Guild at (707) 544-5913.
