Since his first published poem, CSUS professor emeritus Dennis Schmitz has provoked praise, delight and amazement among his readers.In January of 2000, the Sacramento City Council and the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission selected Schmitz as one of the city's first two poet laureates, along with Viola Weinberg.
The two worked together to compile The Sacramento Anthology of 100 Poems, which includes a rich array of works from the city's finest poets.
Schmitz started at Sac State as a resident writer in 1966. His first collection of poems, We Weep for Our Strangeness, was published in 1969. Since then he has published more than 200 poems in such notable journals as the American Poetry Review, The Nation and the Chicago Review.
Along with poetry, Schmitz taught writing courses, literature and translation at Sac State. He has been a Guggenheim fellow and from 1976 to 1977, 1985 to 1986 and 1992 to 1993 Schmitz was a National Endowment for the Arts fellow. He is the recipient of the Discovery Award (Poetry Center, New York), and the Shelley Memorial Award for Distinguished Achievement (Poetry Society of America).