ST. PETERSBURG - At today's St. Petersburg City Council Meeting, Mayor Ken Welch named Gloria Muñoz as St. Pete's next poet laureate. Muñoz has been appointed and will serve as a prominent fixture in the City’s cultural and literary arts communities, promoting poetry and literature among residents and visitors. 
 
“Gloria’s beautifully written words have long reverberated through the hearts and souls of our community,” said St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch. “As our Poet Laureate, I look forward to many more of our residents benefitting from the enrichment her carefully crafted art brings.”
 
As the City’s official poet, Muñoz will present original poems at City events and youth activities to inspire emerging generations of literary artists and poets.
 
After being appointed in October, the St. Pete Poet Laureate will serve a four-year term. 
 
About Gloria:
Gloria Muñoz earned a BA from Sarah Lawrence College and an MFA from the University of South Florida. Her past experiences include teaching college-level creative writing and composition in the US, co-directing outreach programs with nonprofits serving low-income first generation college students and their families and teaching playwriting at an NGO in India.
 
Gloria is the author of Danzirly / Dawn’s Early which was awarded the Academy of American Poets 2019 Ambroggio Prize and the Gold Medal Florida Book Award. Gloria was also part of the inaugural Tin House YA workshop and has presented her writing, research, and advocacy work at conferences, colleges, public schools, and book festivals across the United States and Latin America. Gloria is also a founding member of Arts for a Cause, an artist collective that works on transdisciplinary social art projects and a proud co-founder of Pitch Her Productions , a non-profit film production company dedicated to promoting women in Film.