Rachel Richardson, guest poet

The Clearly Meant poetry and interview series returns

Berkeley poet Rachel Richardson reads her poetry, then sits for an interview with host Glenn Ingersoll, followed by audience discussion.

The long-running Clearly Meant poetry & interview series welcomes Berkeley poet Rachel Richardson. Richardson will read her poetry, then sit for an interview with host Glenn Ingersoll, followed by an audience discussion. 

Rachel Richardson is the author of Smother (Norton, 2025) and two previous books of poetry, Copperhead and Hundred-Year Wave. Her writing appears The New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic, The Yale Review, at the Poetry Foundation online, and elsewhere. Rachel was a 2024-25 Distinguished Visiting Writer in the MFA program at St. Mary's College, and she leads regular poetry workshops for the community through Left Margin LIT, a literary arts center in Berkeley. After a couple of decades wandering the South and East, she lives in North Berkeley, half a mile from where she was born. 

Berkeley Public Library collection includes Smother and Copperhead.

A free booklet of Rachel Richardson poems will be available for a month before the reading at all branches of the library. Copies will also be available at the event. 

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