Al Young, a poet, novelist, memoirist, and screenwriter, who was a two-time recipient of the American Book Award among other honors, including Stegner, Guggenheim, and NEA fellowships, served as poet laureate of California from 2005 to 2008. Young authored more than thirteen books; most recently, Something about the Blues: An Unlikely Collection of Poetry. He taught at the Community of Writers poetry and writers workshops from the 1990s on, as well as serving as a board member. www.alyoung.org