At an outdoor gathering hosted by Ron Irvine at the Vashon Winery last month, Vashon’s 2015 Poets Laureate were announced by Master of Ceremonies Annie Brulé. Irvine spoke about the selection process.

“The Poets Laureate were selected by a group of Vashon poets, weighing the differences between nominated poets; looking at their poetry and their contributions to the community of poets and the larger community of Vashon,” he said.

Irvine noted that the committee decided to nominate co-Poets Laureate Lonny Kaneko and Cal Kinnear as each deserved the title, adding that the poets’ personalities and poetry complimented one another. The committee also solicited names from Vashon public school teachers for the Youth Poet Laureate. The title was given to Maijah Sanson-Frey.

Each of the Poets Laureate read from their own work before other Vashon poets also shared poems.