GERDA GOVINE ITUARTE, Ed.D.
Gerda Govine Ituarte’s poetry collection includes Poetry Within Reach in Unexpected Places, 2018; Future Awakes in Mouth of NOW, 2016; Alterations|Thread Light Through Eye of Storm, 2015; Oh, Where is My Candle Hat? 2012 in English and Spanish. She is the Editor and Contributor of the Pasadena Rose Poets Poetry Collection 2019: Reflection. Resistance. Reckoning. Resurrection. which launched November 15, 2019.
Summer 2016 Govine Ituarte created a four-week lunchtime poetry reading series for the City of Pasadena Cultural Affairs Division,” and established the Pasadena Rose Poets comprised of ten seasoned Pasadena-connected poets. In February 2017, she established poetry readings at Pasadena City Council meetings, which continues. Her poetry appeared in the Altadena Poetry Review, Change-Links, CiCoiled Serpent, Dryland Literary Journal, Hometown Pasadena, Indefinite Space, In Flight Literary Magazine, Journal of Modern Poetry, Ms. Aligned 1, 2, and 3, Mujeres de Maiz, Pasadena San Gabriel Valley Journal, PoeticDiversity, Public Address, and The New Engagement.
Member of Public Address Collaborative participated in “DesEscondido/No Longer Hidden,” created with 16 public artists from San Diego, Central Valley and Pasadena at the California Center for the Arts Museum, Escondido (artcenter.org). Her poetry was displayed throughout the exhibit and her book, Poetry Within Reach in Unexpected Places,” captured the essence of the artist words and work. Two of her poems, "Las Mujeres" and "Library Surprise / Sorpresa en La Biblioteca" in English and Spanish were selected to be placed on the Rail Trail in Santa Cruz, California.
She read at Aahoo Art Gallery, Altadena Library District, Art Produce, Avenue 50 Studio, Battery Bookstore, Beyond Baroque, Bonita Museum and Cultural Center, Business Life Magazing Women Achievers Award Annual Luncheon, California Center for the Arts Museum Escondido, City Council meetings in Pasadena, El Cajon, Escondido, City of Pasadena Cultural Affairs Division Public Art Installation, City of Pasadena Council Chambers, Claremont Library, Coffee Gallery, El Gatito Gallery, Flintridge Bookstore, Glendale High School, Holy Grounds, Huntington Gardens, John Muir High School, La Linea Curva Studio, La Pintoresca Library and Park, Leimert Park Book Fair, LitCrawl LA, Mariposa Residency Art Gallery Tijuana, New Americas Museum, Pasadena City Councilmember John J. Kennedy Community Meetings, Pacific Oaks College, Pasadena Central Library, Pasadena Lit Fest, Pasadena Museum of California Art, Pasadena Senior Center, Poetry Circus, Poets, Inc., Red Hen Press, Spectrum, State of California Assemblyman Chris Holden events, The Front Gallery, The Last Bookstore, The World Stage, Tia Chucha Bookstore, Vromans, Women's City Club and Zaina Gallery Cleveland Ohio. She curated two international (Los Angeles & Tijuana, Mexico) art exhibits at Avenue 50 Studio. One of her poems was included in Shinpei Takeda’s exhibit at the New Americans Museum, San Diego. International took place in Casa de la Poesia and Teatro Nacionál, Havana, Cuba, 2015; and International Female Poetry Festival, Cereté, Colombia, 2015. Read at Tijuana Cultural Center (CECUT) and Mariposa International Residency, Tijuana, Mexico 2012-present.
She was featured in “Only Here,” KPBS Podcast, March 2019, “Artist Stories,” Magazine sponsored by the LightBringer Project, December 2018 and Voyage LA Magazine, May 2018. Govine Ituarte writes As We Speak for the Pasadena San Gabriel Valley Journal.
Govine Ituarte was commissioned to write and read her poem, “The Gathering,” to accompany the Painting, “Yes We Can,” by MPeck at the unveiling ceremony, Pasadena Central Library, February 2018. She was chosen by the Los Angeles Poets Society as the first runner up winner for the 2018 International Womyn’s Month Poetry Contest. Govine Ituarte’s book, Alterations| Thread Light Through Eye of Storm, was a Finalist for the Red City Review Book Award, 2015. Pasadena Mayor Terry Tornek presented April National Poetry Month Proclamations to the Pasadena Rose Poets acknowledging their contributions in 2017, 2018 and 2019. Video Pasadena Library Presents: Pasadena Rose Poets, May 11, 2020 on YouTube. Four of Gerda Govine Ituarte's poems from her international poetry collection, Future Awakes in Mouth of NOW, 2016 is posted on the Pasadena Library Facebook page April 2020.
Govine Ituarte received an MA. and Ed.D. from Teachers College Columbia University in Higher and Adult Education Administration and Research. She earned a B.S. and M.A. in Business Education from New York University and an Alternative Dispute Resolution Certificate from Pepperdine University, Straus Center, School of Law. She is CEO of G. Govine Consulting and facilitates problem solving utilizing words and processes that curb sharp edges of conversation. Specific focus includes workplace diversity and inclusion services as an expert witness, litigation consultant, investigator, trainer, writer and public speaker. She lives with artist husband Luis Ituarte at Rancho Alegre (Artist Dreamland) in Jamul, San Diego County, CA.
