LAKEPORT, Calif. – Lake County Poet Laureate Casey Carney will give a reading at the Mendocino College Lake Center on Sunday, Nov. 16.

The reading will begin at 2 p.m. at the center, 2565 Parallel Drive in Lakeport.

Admission is free to the event, which is presented by the Lake County Friends of Mendocino College and Friends of the Mendocino College Library.

Carney – Lake County's poet laureate for 2014 through 2016 – is a lifelong artist who expresses her creativity through poetry, writing, photography, performance art and teaching.

Holding a master’s degree in dance, Carney is a professional choreographer, and has taught dance and participated in numerous dance concerts in Los Angeles.

She has studied with such notables as Bessie Schonberg, Jeff Slaton, Bella Lewitzky, Risa Steinberg and Gloria Newman.

Carney also has performed as a soloist at the Los Angeles Dance Kaliedoscope Festival.

A former special education teacher, Carney currently is involved with mentoring at-risk youth.

She believes in the power of creativity in helping people to connect with their individual voice and to bring that voice into the world. She is interested in a multidisciplinary approach to expression and healing.

Carney is working on her manuscript of poetry titled “How to tell a Party from a Disaster.”

Following the reading, there will be an open mic session to let audience members recite their poetry.

Sign-ups will take place prior to the reading and during the break.

For more information call 707-468-3051.