Post Date:07/01/2026 3:39 PMThe Oceanside Library & Cultural Arts Department and the Oceanside Arts Commission are excited to announce the City’s inaugural 2026-2028 O’Arts: Oceanside Poet Laureate, Karla Cordero. Karla was selected for this two-year appointment to produce engaging and conceptually rich original works inspired by and in response to Oceanside as a diverse community with many untold stories and new ones made each day. Karla will work throughout the City to elevate the literary arts while making poetry accessible to all.
Karla Cordero is the author of the debut poetry collection How to Pull Apart the Earth, winner of a San Diego Book Award and a Bronze Medal Finalist in the International Latino Book Awards. Her work has appeared in Poem-a-Day from the Academy of American Poets, The Los Angeles Times, NPR, O, The Oprah Magazine, and among other publications.
As a performing artist, Cordero helped lead the San Diego Poetry Slam Team to a fourth-place finish at the 2013 National Poetry Slam Competition. She has performed for NBC 7 San Diego's Art Pulse, TBN's Juice Live, the Old Globe Theatre, and at universities, conferences, and festivals across the country.
Cordero is the recipient of the COURAGE to WRITE Grant from the deGroot Foundation, a California Arts Council Fellowship, the San Diego State University Global Diversity Award, and the San Diego Writers Festival Community Educator of the Year Award. She is also a fellow of Macondo, VONA, the Community of Writers, CantoMundo, Tin House, and the Pink Door Writing Retreat. She serves as Executive Director of the nonprofit arts organization Glassless Minds, and teaches creative writing and composition at MiraCosta College and San Diego City College.
Oceanside Library & Cultural Arts Department oversees the City’s Arts Commission and one of only 24 state-designated cultural districts, the Oceanside Cultural Arts District. Visit oceansideculturaldistrict on Instagram, call 760-435-5600, or follow the Library on Instagram and Facebook @oceansidelibrary for more information and to stay up-to-date on Library events and services. Return to full list >>
