Lester Graves Lennon and Sehba Sarwar Named Altadena Poets Laureate for 2024-2026 Term

Lester Graves Lennon, a poetry editor and investment banker, and Sehba Sarwar, a writer, poet, artist, teacher and social activist, have been selected as the new Altadena Poets Laureate for the 2024-2026 term, according to an announcement made by outgoing poets Peter J. Harris and Carla R. Sameth at the Ode to the Land event at Zorthian Ranch on April 7.

Lennon is a two-time Pushcart Prize nominee and the poetry editor for Rosebud magazine.He has worked in public finance for more than 40 years, will serve as the Altadena Poet Laureate Editor in Chief. He has published three books of poetry, including “The Upward Curve of Earth and Heavens” (2001), which can be found in 70 public and university libraries, “My Father Was a Poet” (2013), and “Lynchings: Postcards from America” (2022). 

Sarwar, who will serve as the Altadena Poet Laureate for Community Events, creates text and art that tackle displacement, migration, and women’s issues. Her novel, “Black Wings,” was released in its second edition in 2019, and her essays and poems have appeared in publications including The New York Times, Asia: Magazine of Asian Literature, and the Los Angeles Times. Her short stories are anthologized in Feminist Press, Akashic Books, and Harper Collins India. Born and raised in Karachi, Pakistan, Sarwar now resides in the San Gabriel Valley. In 2000, while based in Houston, she founded and ran a social justice arts organization, Voices Breaking Boundaries, through which she initiated projects such as “Borderlines” to explore border issues in North America and South Asia.

The new Poets Laureate will plan a schedule of programs, including the traditional Poetry & Cookies reading at Altadena Main Library every April. The schedule will be announced via the Altadena Library’s email list and social media once confirmed. This year’s Poetry & Cookies event, which featured work from poets published in the “Altadena Poetry Review: Anthology 2024,” was held on Saturday, April 27, at the Altadena Main Library.

Lennon, who has lived with his family in Altadena since 1992, was instrumental in the creation of the Poet Laureate positions for both the City of Los Angeles and the City of Oakland, California. He was a founding member of the Los Angeles Mayor’s Poet Laureate Task Force and serves on the Board of Directors of the Community of Writers. He is also an emeritus member of the Board of Visitors for the English Department at the University of Wisconsin and a past member of the Board of Directors for Red Hen Press.

Tax-deductible donations to support the Altadena Laureate Program can be made via the Friends of the Altadena Library at altadenalibrary.org/friends.