Joel Fallon

Joel Fallon (June 16, 1931 - August 11, 2016)[1] was the first Poet laureate of Benicia, California. He is the namesake of the Joel Fallon poetry scholarship[2] awarded annually since 2015[3] to high school students in Benicia, California. He was a founding member of the Benicia First Tuesday Poets, which meets at the Benicia Library monthly since 2003,[4] and also helped begin the Benicia Love Poetry Contest[2] and the annual Poets’ Picnic.[2] He was named Benicia’s first poet laureate in 2005.[4] He helped Genea Brice[4] advocate for a poet laureate program in neighboring Vallejo, California. He also served as a vice president of Arts Benicia.[1] Fallon began writing poetry while serving overseas in the United States Army.[4] He was influenced by Robert Frost, Emily Dickinson, and Charles Bukowski.[3] His successors include Robert Shelby, Ronna Leon, Lois Requist, Don Peery, Johanna Ely, and Tom Stanton.[5]