Present at the Creation is an anthology of 80 poems written by Sonoma County, CA poets on the writing and sharing of poetry. This collection delights and inspires poets and non-poets alike with its sparkling but accessible language, its variety of poetic experience, and its transparency of experience.  It belongs in every library, creative writing workshop or classroom, word-lover's bookshelf.  The co-editors are Doug Stout, Healdsburg's first Literary Laureate, and Vilma Ginzberg, who later became its fifth.  Some excerpted lines from various poets:

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"I write to kiss the language, I write to be the language"

"images spill out across blank pages in a hot lava flow"

"secret poems with hidden drawers, holding all the keys"

"I practice the alchemy of words"

"I am a poet who is afraid to go where the poem wants to take me"

"is there room on the streets for poetry?"