CHAPTER 510 MEDIA KIT
When the stars bloom in oakland
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When the Stars Bloom in Oakland is a portrait of twilight and daybreak. It holds what the young people in our city are thinking about and imagining. The poets featured in this anthology are the first cohort of Chapter 510's Young Oakland Poets Expedition, a program that envisions every fourth grader in Oakland Unified School District writing poems at the same time. We started with eight classrooms and their work is the starlight in these pages. Read this in daylight or under the covers curled up with a flashlight—these poems invite us to look a little bit closer at our everyday lives and to dream with a sense of unlimited possibility.
Fourth graders are making the transition from learning to read, into reading to learn. In this book, we see how they are making the transition from being taught to write, into writing to teach. What can their poems teach us about the human condition? About nature, animals, and the universe? About living in these times? When the Stars Bloom in Oakland answers these questions and more. Kudos, as always, to Chapter 510 for another literary win!
– Aya de León, Berkeley Poet Laureate 2024–2025
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COVER:
Cover art (download)
CLASSROOM PHOTOS:
Students holding poems (download)
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Spooky Tulips (pdf download)
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Autumn in Eritrea (pdf download)
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Anjali Ensellem Headshot (download)
Anjali Emsellem is a writer and educator from the Bay Area. They are the co-founder of ATM, an online magazine publishing at the intersections of art, criticism, and mutual aid. They have deeply enjoyed sharing the art of poetry with people of all ages through their work as a Kindergarten teacher, at PEN America's Prison and Justice Writing Program, and in the hospice setting. Anjali holds a certificate in Foundations of Spiritual Care through the NY Zen Center and is the author of two chapbooks, Creation (2024) and In the Yawn, (2022).
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Dawline-Jane Oni-Eseleh Headshot (download)
Dawline-Jane Oni-Eseleh is an Oakland-based visual and teaching artist. Her mixed media artwork is inspired by memory, family stories, her cultural heritage in Diaspora, and the natural world, as well as the shifting urban landscape.
Ms. Oni-Eseleh attended The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, and has exhibited her work in spaces across the United States and internationally. Her illustration work has been featured in The LA Times, Science Friday, ProPublica, and Teen Vogue.