Foothill is one of only a handful of community colleges which offer the opportunity of a poet laureate position to students. Next year, it could be you!

May 29th is the last day Foothill will be accepting applications for its next poet laureate, an individual who represents Foothill as its official student poet. A new post at Foothill, the poet laureate position, was inaugurated this year by Marvin Hernandez Flores, the first to hold the title. Students with a passion for poetic expression—who understand the relationship between language and social justice, who respect linguistic diversity and all forms of creative expression, honoring authentic student voices, and who can commit to at least partial enrollment for the upcoming school year—should apply! 

Foothill will look to its next poet laureate to perform at four Foothill events and lead three poetry workshops during the 2026-2027 school year. While applicants don’t need to be performance poets, being comfortable with public speaking is a must. Community building is an integral part of the poet laureate role and applicants should be ready to work on and off campus, collaborate with students and faculty, and participate in student-centered and student-led activities. Applicants are encouraged to share their social justice passion without being held back by preconceived notions of what that needs to be: the environment, data centers or animal rights—what issue are you passionate about?

Foothill Poetry Professor Suzy Huerta Quezada explained what the committee is looking for in applicants, saying, “I want to see their passion; I want to see the confidence they have in their vision.” When applying, Quezada emphasized the most important thing to remember is to be yourself and be proud. Applicants should channel the energy of who they are, where they come from and what matters to them and “write into that, because I want to know their voice.” Discussing the positive atmosphere fostering the role of poet laureate, and making more inclusive and diverse representation possible, Quezada observed the “real culture shift in how faculty have learned to embrace linguistic diversity, linguistic autonomy, linguistic sovereignty, [and] how to encourage students to celebrate their own voices.”

With this poet laureate post, Foothill is working toward making a positive shift away from synthetic barriers because creativity is about authentic and diverse expression, rather than something determined by an artificial set of preconceived notions designed to silence voices from certain communities. As Quezada explained, in the past, gatekeeping has often determined “who has the right to write poetry,” or who is considered expert enough to be given the right to express themselves creatively. Part of the inspiration behind making the poet laureate role available to students is to uplift underrepresented voices. Quezada stressed that the Foothill poet laureate needs to be a community-builder ready to share “opportunities to get other students to honor their own perspectives and… experiences through poetry.”

Marvin Hernandez Flores, Foothill’s inaugural poet laureate, discussed some of the opportunities the post has opened for him. Reflecting on performing at Foothill’s Winter Convocation with accompaniment from many talented musicians, Flores said that getting to perform his poetry with live instrumentation was something he has been working towards for a very long time. As part of his artistic journey, Flores wants to create more performances which blend poetry and music. “I’m so, so blessed to have had that team to be with me on that stage,” he said. “The convocation [was] truly a core memory and highlight of my life.”

Flores will be hosting a workshop on Tuesday, May 26th, from 12 pm – 1:30 pm, in the BIPOC Center during which he will answer questions and give advice on the application process. Flores will also be teaching poetry writing at the workshop, and all students should feel free to attend, including those who are not thinking about becoming Foothill’s next poet laureate. Stop by and have fun learning from Foothill’s inaugural poet laureate!

Read more about what it means to be Foothill’s poet laureate.

Read more about how to apply.