Malibu City Council appointed Dr. John Struloeff as Malibu poet laureate on Monday, Oct. 12. Strueloff will serve as the city’s third-ever poet laureate until June 1, 2021, taking up the mantle from former laureates Ellen Reich, who died earlier this year of cancer, and Ricardo Means Ybarra, the city’s first poet laureate.
Originally from the rainforests of Oregon, Struloeff works as the director of creative writing at Pepperdine University and has been involved in the city’s poet laureate program since its inception, according to the city’s website. He has won multiple literary awards and fellowships—from Stanford to Bulgaria—and his work has been published in dozens of journals and literary magazines.
In his new role, Struloeff will host a series of free monthly poetry programs.