The Berks Bards Board of Directors have announced that its new Poet Laureate Committee has agreed unanimously to name Aries Franklin Ortiz (a.k.a. The Poet Smiley) as the Berks County Poet Laureate.
Susan Peña, President of Berks Bards and a member of the committee, said, “We came to the decision to honor Aries as the result of her extraordinary accomplishments, not only as a fine written-page and spoken-word poet, but as a leader of Berks County’s growing poetry community.”
Her list of activities from the past two years include publishing her book, “I Come With a Warning Label”; founding and continuing to organize the “Bless the Mic Poetry Slam”; creating an oral-history collection through Speak Your Truth; partnering with local nonprofits (including Barrio Alegria, the WCR Center for the Arts, and GoggleWorks Center for the Arts) and Alvernia University to create events; founding her own nonprofit, The Smiley House Project, to promote poetry, literacy and other arts; holding youth workshops in various locations; and much more.
“Through all these activites, Aries has attracted poets from Pittsburgh, York, Lancaster, Allentown, Philadelphia and other places outside Berks, who now come to Reading on a regular basis for what ourpoetry community offers them,” Peña said. “All of her projects and contributions to the community at large, bringing the art of poetry to people from all walks of life, are exactly what we want from a Poet Laureate.”
Franklin Ortiz has received two Pennsylvania State Citations from two different state representatives, and a Commendation from the City of Reading, as well as the Coretta Scott King Book Grant.
When notified of her being named Poet Laureate, Franklin Ortiz said, “Becoming Poet Laureate is both an honor and a responsibility that I carry with deep gratitude. I look forward to using poetry to amplify voices, inspire healing, and celebrate the stories that make our community strong.”
Anthony Orozco, a former Berks County Poet Laureate and Director of Operations and Communication for Barrio Alegria, said: “Aries has played a critical role in reinvigorating local poetry through community building, elevating voices, and reciting verses that many would be too timid to share. She is a grand ambassador for this art form, and all poets in the region will benefit from her being laureate. I want to thank Susan Peña and the Berks Bards committee for hearing my request late last year and carrying on the torch of Berks County Poet Laureate. They couldn’t have made a better choice.”
Berks Bards is planning to hold an event in September, during which Franklin Ortiz will be formally presented with the Laureate honor, with a reception afterward. The date, time and venue will be announced later.