Maja Trochimczyk ("Ma-ya" "Tro-HIM-chick") with the Laureates' "laurel heart" and
a music box. Quotation from "Tiger Nights" published in The Epiphany Magazine and Rose Always. Portrait (C) 2010 by Ronna Leon, Used by Permission. August 2010, McGroarty Art Center.
It was an honor, as well as fun, to have served as the Sixth Poet Laureate of Sunland-Tujunga. My term
ended in April 2012; it started two years earlier, with the Passing of the Laurels ceremony at the McGroarty Arts Center
in Tujunga.
In the presence of many guests, poets, officials, and friends, I placed a wreath of laurel leaves (actually
a local bush, similar to an olive), on the head of Dorothy Skiles, who has been selected to serve as the Seventh
Poet Laureate of Sunland-Tujunga. My mission to seek happiness through poetry has not ended, though, and neither my
various poetry-related projects, such as my
monthly column in our local paper, Voice of the Village, my participation in the Village Poets activities (planning the monthly
readings), and my contributions to Poets on Site. I received a new set of congratulatory messages from the offices
of County Supervisor Michael Antonovich, City Councilmembers Richard Alarcon and Paul Krekorian, and State Assembly
Member Cameron Smyth. Below you will find a record of my activities during my term. Other information and updates are on my
Poetry Laurels Blog, and my website, especially
the Poetry section.
The motto for my two years as Poet Laureate was
"Poetry ... in pursuit of happiness"
My activities have
included public readings, appearances at civic ceremonies, participation in art festivals and
community events. I have also decided to publish an anthology with work by local poets. The anthology evolved into
a somewhat different project, an anthology of spiritual poetry, Meditations on Divine Names which appeared
in March 2012. You may see the list of events below.
Maja Trochimczyk with Marlene Hitt, first Poet Laureate of Sunland-Tujunga and poet Elsa Frausto.
April 25, 2010, McGroarty Art Center, Tujunga.
On April 25, 2010, the Passing of the Laurels Ceremony was held at the
McGroarty Art Center, Tujunga, with Joe DeCenzo doing the honors on behalf of the Sunland-Tujunga
Poetry and Literature Committee. The event included presentations by Claire Knowles,
Director of McGroarty Art Center, Dorothy Skiles, President of Village Poets, Mary Benson from
Paul Krekorian's office, music performances and poetry readings by Joe DeCenzo, Elsa Frausto and myself.
I received Certificates of Congratulations from State Senators Bob Huff and George Runner, and Los Angeles
Councilman Paul Krekorian.
My reading included a poem I wrote especially for this occasion, What I love in Sunland.
You may download the poem in Word format here.
My Poets' Cafe Radio interview
with host Lois P. Jones was broadcast on March 30, 2011 and is archived on Tim Green's Site.
With Dr. Blues, guitar, at "Imagine
Poetry" Reading at the Sunland Tujunga Neighborhood Council meeting, March 8, 2011.
I participate as co-organizer in the monthly Village Poets Open Readings at Bolton Hall Museum, where my role is to find and invite featured poets, musicians
and other artists. I write a
monthly poetry column in The Voice of the Village and maintain two poetry blogs,
Chopin with Cherries and
Poetry Laurels.
For more information, see events and readings,
and photos from recent
events,
Maja Trochimczyk's Commendations for the End of Term as the Sixth Poet Laureate of Sunland Tujunga, April 2012.
Publications
My tenure as a poet-laureate is documented in three poetry blogs and a column in The Voice of the Village:
A set of poems inspired by Asian art is on Pacific Asia Museum's Audio Tour 2011, maintained
on Old Flutes Site by Kathabela Wilson. In September 2011, I recorded these poems for the
40th Anniversary Audio Tour of the Museum. Each poem is accompanied by Rick Wilson on an appropriate Asian flute.
To listen you may go to the Audio Tour 2011 on Old Flutes Site, or call the Museum: "A Box of Peaches" written on the Gau Prayer Box, 626-628-9690, 455#; "An Embroidery Lesson"
626-628-9690, 464; and "Smiling Buddha" - 445.
A recently created YouTube video channel for Moonrise Press features
video excerpts from various poetry readings, including the "Passing of the Laurels" ceremony
and other events. You may see my readings of the following poems:
Ascension (A Memorial Poem) dedicated to Barbara Koziel-Gawronski (1946-2009), read at
the Passing of the Laurels Ceremony, McGroarty Arts Center, Tujunga, California, April 25, 2010: http://youtu.be/9gB9Yj9acaM
Claremont Concert, read at the Passing of the Laurels Ceremony, McGroarty Arts Center, Tujunga,
California, April 25, 2010, published in poeticdiversity.org vol. 8 no. 2 (August 2008): http://youtu.be/ceX1_IWZW4Q
Green Sea at Albian, (Cathedral), inspired by a painting by Milford Zornes of the same title, read at
"Three Generations" Exhibition, APC Gallery Torrance, California, July 26, 2008: http://www.youtu.be/sCO7aSYXfgc
Illuminata, Pacific Asia Museum Audio Tour, with Rick Wilson, flute, recorded at Pacific Asia Museum, Pasadena, August 22, 2009, also posted on the museum's website and published in the "Poetry Audio Tour" chapbook, Poets on Site, Pasadena, 2009: http://youtu.be/mbiIMszaLwY
Illuminata, written for Pacific Asia Museum Audio Tour, version read at the Passing of the Laurels Ceremony, McGroarty Arts Center, Tujunga, California, April 25, 2010: http://youtu.be/Bst2kYh8ciM
'Look at me...' , inspired by Ella Fitzgerald's "Misty" and a Sunday drive to a Buddhist orchard. The first reading as Poet Laureate of Sunland-Tujunga, at Bolton Hall Museum, Tujunga, California, May 23, 2010: http://youtu.be/TJzzOId3KCY
A Magnolia Courtryard for Pacific Asia Museum Audio Tour, with Rick Wilson, flute, recorded at Pacific Asia Museum, Pasadena, August 22, 2009, also posted on the museum's website and published in the Poetry Audio Tour chapbook, Poets on Site, Pasadena, 2009: http://youtu.be/1kOTn11xa1I
Mountain Watch, at the first reading as Poet Laureate of Sunland-Tujunga, introduced by Joe DeCenzo, at Bolton Hall Museum, Tujunga, California, May 23, 2010: http://www.youtu.be/MxlahG639pY
An Ode of the Lost, dedicated to Adam Mickiewicz and all Polish exiles. The first reading as Poet Laureate of Sunland-Tujunga, at Bolton Hall Museum, Tujunga, California, May 23, 2010: http://youtu.be/LWSOufEAk30
Of the Mountains, inspired by a painting by Bill Anderson, "Foothill Rancho Cucamonga, Cliff Road" and read at "Three Generations" Exhibition, APC Gallery Torrance, California, July 26, 2008: http://youtu.be/TL3oXxJC-Bg
Passing of the Laurels Ceremony for the Sixth Poet Laureate of Sunland Tujunga, with Joe DeCenzo, McGroarty Arts Center, Tujunga, California, April 25, 2010.
A Portrait in Brackets (Eidetic Reduction) at the first reading as Poet Laureate of Sunland-Tujunga, at Bolton Hall Museum, Tujunga, California, May 23, 2010: http://youtu.be/eFhVhOAxbxM
Point San Vincente, inspired by Milford Zornes's painting of the same title. "Three Generations" Exhibition, APC Gallery, Torrance, California, July 26, 2008: http://www.youtu.be/jLai-H7wf5A
Selected love poems from Rose Always - A Court Love Story, poems no. 12, 13, 20, 52. The first reading as Poet Laureate of Sunland-Tujunga, at Bolton Hall Museum, Tujunga, California, May 23, 2010: http://youtu.be/k5W-X6mEygM
A Study with Cherries, from the "Chopin with Cherries" anthology (Moonrise Press, 2010), read at Kathabela and Rick Wilsons’ poetry salon, Pasadena, August 8, 2009: http://www.youtu.be/ljaCVn9NZqI
Stravinsky's Venice, inspired by Bill Anderson"s painting Venice, Italy. "Three Generations" Exhibition, APC Gallery, Torrance, California, July 26, 2008: http://youtu.be/hh6SWgsX09c
What I love in Sunland, the first reading as Poet Laureate of Sunland-Tujunga, at Bolton Hall Museum, Tujunga, California, May 23, 2010: http://youtu.be/I1DFKCDZ83s
A list of readings and events is included in my Poet Laureate Page: www.trochimczyk.net/laureate.html.
Of course, the main reason I decided to apply for the position of Poet Laureate of Sunland Tujunga was to ride in the Sunland-Tujunga Fourth of July Parade! Here's a photo
from 2012, after my term ended.
Maja with a Donkey at the Fourth of July Parade of Sunland-Tujunga, 2012
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