Caroline Goodwin moved from Sitka, Alaska to the San Francisco Area to attend Stanford as a Wallace Stegner Fellow in poetry in 1999. Her most recent collections are Old Snow, White Sun (JackLeg Press, 2021), Madrigals (Big Yes Press, 2021), and Matanuska (Aquifer Press, Wales, UK, 2022). She lives on the San Mateo coast and teaches at the California College of the Arts, Stanford Continuing Studies, and UC Berkeley Extension. From 2014-2016, she served as the first Poet Laureate of San Mateo County, CA.
In October 2013, the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors appointed Caroline Goodwin as San Mateo County’s first Poet Laureate for a two-year term commencing January 1, 2014. During her term, Goodwin developed and launched creative initiatives to engage the public in poetry, including the popular “Poetry Is…” contest, which celebrates poetry and encourages people to write and share their poems. In addition, Goodwin gave readings and brought the literary arts to a wide variety of audiences within the County. She worked tirelessly to fulfill a vision of public literary arts that represented San Mateo County.