Rachel Richardson

Join us in welcoming Berkeley poet Rachel Richardson, author of three books of poetry including her recent work, Smother, which explores the challenges of parenting in the era of climate catastrophe.

Rachel will read from her new book, and after the reading, she will offer a short generative workshop on writing/rearranging poems into new forms.

Bring some favorite poems with you, or discover some new favorites during the workshop!

Paper, pen, and curiosity are the only required tools!

Rachel Richardson is the author of Smother (W. W. Norton, 2025) and two earlier poetry collections, Copperhead and Hundred-Year Wave (Carnegie Mellon University Press). She is a former Wallace Stegner and NEA Fellow, and she serves on the Board of The Frost Place. Her poems have appeared in The Atlantic, The New York Times, The Yale Review, American Poetry Review, and elsewhere. She is co-founder of the community writing center Left Margin LIT in Berkeley. In 2024 she was named an inaugural Artists-in-Fire Resident through the Confluence Lab, and is now trained as an FFT2 wildland firefighter. 

Regarding her recent book, Alexis Madrigal of KQED Forum, says, "Throughout the collection, fire, smoke and air flecked with ash become metaphors and characters as Richardson searches for resilience, defiance, and ultimately, hope." Listen to the story. 

Visit the author's website rachelbjrichardson.com to learn more.