Note: An excerpt of this article will be published in the December 2025 newsletter.
By Linda C. McCabe
On Sunday, October 12th, Redwood Writers held its official launch for its tenth poetry anthology Just So to help mark California Writers Week. The launch party included readings from some of the poets included in the anthology. Award winning poet Les Bernstein served as editor for the anthology and emcee for the event. She mentioned there were over 700 poems submitted by Redwood Writers members and only 110 poems were selected for publication.
As Bernstein introduced one writer, she admitted her astonishment. “I get a ton of submissions, and I have some idea of who people are because I have met them before, but sometimes I don’t have any idea who someone is. And that would be the case with Lee Riggs. I had no idea that Lee was so young, I did know he was accomplished.” She then asked him to verify his age and asked if he was fifteen, when he clarified he was only thirteen she replied, “Thirteen, oh my God!” Les Bernstein composed herself to add to his introduction, “He is our youngest published poet. This is quite a start, this goes on your resumé, you are on the books now!”
Lee walked to the microphone and with great poise said, “I’m Lee Riggs, I’m thirteen years old. I’m really happy to have my poem published in this book and to be here today. It’s been fun hearing everybody else read their poems. The poem I’m going to read is called ‘We Were Birds’ and it’s about a person who was really important to me.” He read his poem with a clear and strong voice to an appreciative crowd. The poem used symbolism of two people as birds flying together and then one flying away and leaving the other behind, this was to note the pain he felt over the death of someone dear to him.
After all the readings were finished, Lee was introduced to many of his fellow writers who gave him praise, words of encouragement as well as writing advice.
“I hadn’t learned of Lee’s age until he read his poem at our anthology launch party,” said Crissi Langwell, president of Redwood Writers. “I was even more amazed when I heard his poem, which was emotional and heartfelt. I kept thinking, if he has this kind of talent now at thirteen, I can just imagine what an incredible writing career he has ahead of him.”
Roger C. Lubeck, president of the statewide California Writers Club Board of Directors, praised Lee for having the courage to submit his work for publication at his young age and then gave Lee encouragement for finding his own “literary voice.”
Lee is in the eighth grade at Horicon Elementary School in Annapolis, California and lives on The Sea Ranch with his older brother Frederick (Fritz) and his mother, Menka Sethi.
The previous record for youngest writer published by Redwood Writers was held by Ian Nevin at age seventeen when his short story “The Walking Wounded” was in the 2016 prose anthology Untold Stories: From the Deep Part of the Well by editor Roger C. Lubeck.
The latest poetry anthology Just So by Redwood Writers can be purchased from Amazon.com.
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