Grant Hier

Grant Hier is Anaheim's inaugural poet laureate and literary ambassador, working to connect our community through great writing. 

Through 2020, he will share his love of poetry with Anaheim at public readings, library events, community gatherings and social media. 

“The best poetry shows us who we are,” Hier says. “It broadens our perspective. It shows us how other people think and live and how much we have in common. And that builds compassion and community.”

Hier's favorite poem? “Song of Myself” by American great Walt Whitman.

“I love it for its all-inclusiveness and tremendous heart,” he says. “He revolutionized poetry with his form.”

Hier's works

Hier is author of “Untended Garden (Histories and Reinhabitation in Suburbia)” a Prize Americana-winning book that explores the history and culture of Southern California in one long poem.

His poetry also appears in the anthologies  “Orange County: a Literary Field Guide,” “Only Light Can Do That” and “Monster Verse — Human and Inhuman Poems.”

His other works include fiction pieces, essays and music, visual art and graphic design.

Hier has deep Anaheim roots.

He lives in a Cinderella house, a type of ranch-style design with decorative gingerbread trim common in west Anaheim.

The house has been in his family home for generations.

Hier lives there with his wife Laura, a chemistry teacher at Rowland High School in Rowland Heights.

The couple has two rescue dogs, a German Shepard and a beagle mix, and Abagail the cat.