D.L. Lang

Diana Lucille Lang (born 1983, Bad Hersfeld, West Germany), known professionally as D. L. Lang, is an American poet. Her poetry is anthologized in over 100 anthologies. She has published 18 full-length books of poetry, and served as the Poet Laureate of Vallejo, California.

Early life

Diana Lucille Lang (née Kettle) and Enid, Oklahoma. earned an Associate of Science in General Studies and a Bachelor of Arts in Film Studies with a minor in Judaic Studies from the University of Oklahoma.

Film and television

While in college Lang worked as a video editor at television station KXOK-LD, and as a band promoter for Greg "Grey" Perkins from Enid, Oklahoma. In 2025 Perkins released the album Headline Antidote which features three songs adapted from D.L. Lang's poetry, "Headline Antidote", "Musty Books", and "Life of Dreams". Lang designed the album covers for Perkins' previous albums, Lang created documentary films, including Liquid Wind, a kiteboarding film by director Charles Maupin that features an interview with Mike Morgan, which was broadcast on Oklahoma PBS affiliate OETA, and The Hebrew Project,

Poetry Lang began writing poetry as a child, first attempting to write song lyrics. Lang began performing her poetry in 2015 Her poems have been published in newspapers, journals, and anthologies.

Vallejo Poet Laureate

D. L. Lang was appointed Poet Laureate of Vallejo, California in September 2017 and served through December 2019. As poet laureate Lang edited the poetry anthology Verses, Voices & Visions of Vallejo and performed 141 times in 18 different cities. at the 2019 Vallejo Women's March. During her tenure she also performed her poetry at many local events, including Vallejo Unites Against Hatred, Unity Day, International Peace Day and Why Poetry Matters. Lang also gave a presentation on Emma Lazarus and Alicia Ostriker for AAUW Voices of Change. Lang also judged seven contests including the county Poetry Out Loud high school recitation competition, Joel Fallon poetry scholarship, She performed regularly on air on KZCT Like her predecessor, she led the Poetry in Notion poetry circle Lang was preceded as Vallejo's poet laureate by Dr. Genea Brice, and succeeded by Jeremy Snyder, then host of Poetry by the Bay. The California State Senate, California Arts Council, and Vallejo City Council awarded Lang with proclamations for serving as poet laureate.

2020-present In 2020 she was a featured act at the Solano County Virtual Fair, and judged the library's teen poetry competition. In 2021 she performed virtually for Poetry Flash and Point Arena Third Thursday Poetry. and for the Jewish Democrats of Solano County. In 2022 she performed for the AAUW, Solano County Library, San Francisco Public Library, a beat poetry festival at the Empress Theatre, the abortion rights group RiseUp4AbortionRights, the Beat Museum and LaborFest with the Revolutionary Poets Brigade, judged the Solano library's teen poetry competition, and appeared on the Rooted in Poetry podcast. In 2023 she performed at the Flyway Festival, Vallejo Poetry Festival, Laborfest at the Tenderloin Museum, Revolution Books in Berkeley to support freeing Iranian political prisoners, and a labor protest against Elon Musk. In 2023 she was also one of ten winners of the Curbside Haiku contest in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and performed at the 2023 Woody Guthrie Folk Festival in Okemah, Oklahoma. Lang was a member of the committee to choose Snyder's successors as poet laureate, and judged the Solano Library's teen poetry competition.

In 2024 Lang performed at the Starry Plough Pub in Berkeley in support of Toomaj Salehi. She also gave a reading at a Jewish art exhibit at the Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum, with fellow poets laureate at the Fairfield Library, the Solano County Fair, Mare Island Art Studios, and the Beat Museum. She also interviewed on KZCT. In March 2024 Lang was among several Vallejo women activists who received a proclamation from the Vallejo City Council in honor of Women's History Month. She also performed at Ink and Inspiration in Enid, Oklahoma, the Scissortail Creative Writing Festival in Ada, Oklahoma, She continues to perform poetry live on air at KZCT radio. Radio stations KPOO, KPFA, and KALW have also broadcast Lang's poetry. Lang also performed at Alibi Bookshop as part of the Vagabond Poetry Caravan with National Beat Poet Laureate Mark Lipman and Nina Serrano. She performed with other fan contributors at the US book launch for Billy Bragg: A People's History. In 2026 she read her contribution on episode 4 of Billy Bragg: A People's Podcast. In 2026 she performed with the Woody Guthrie Poets at the Woody Guthrie Center in Tulsa. launches art stored on memory cards and nano-fiche to the moon. The Vagabond Lunar Collection anthology is included in Codex Minerva which traveled on board Intuitive Machine's Nova-C lander, Athena, and landed on the moon near Mons Mouton on March 6, 2025. It is also included in the Codex Polaris, traveling to the Nobile Crater as part of NASA's Artemis program, and is expected to launch to the moon in October 2026.

Poetry anthologies Editor Verses, Voices & Visions of Vallejo 2019. Poetry is Dead II: Once You're Dead, You're Dead Forever Hercules Publishing A Decade of Poetic Unity: Celebrating Vallejo's Poets Laureate

Contributor A Poet's Siddur: Friday Evening Liturgy Through the Eyes of Poets Ain't Got No Press. 2017. Light & Shadow Benicia Literary Arts. 2018. Marin Poetry Center Anthology, Vol. 21 Marin Poetry Center. 2018. Verses, Voices & Visions of Vallejo 2019. Colossus: Home: An Anthology of Lives in and out of Place Colossus Press. 2020. Introspective BloodRedStar Publications. 2020. The Alien Buddha Wears a Black Bandanna Alien Buddha Press. 2020. Black Lives Matter: Poems for a New World Civic Leicester. 2020. Happy Fukkadays 2 U from the Alien Buddha Alien Buddha Press. 2020. Poems of Political Protest City Limits Publishing. 2020. Musings During a Time of Pandemic: A World Anthology of Poems on COVID-19 Kistrech Theatre International. 2020. Poetry: The Best of 2020 Inner Child Press. 2020. From the Soil: A Hometown Anthology Exeter Publishing. 2020. Birth Lifespan Vol. 1 Pure Slush Books. 2021. Red Skies: A Creators Response to 2020 Splintered Disorder Press. 2021. 2020: Our Voices Barnes & Noble Press. 2021. Insurrection Gnashing Teeth Publishing. 2021. The Alien Buddha Skips the Party Alien Buddha Press. 2021. Globalisation: A Poetry Collection Making Magic Happen Press. 2021. Pandemic Evolution: Days 1-100 Sheila-Na-Gig Editions. 2021. The Alien Buddha Gets A Real Job Alien Buddha Press. 2021. The Last Time the Alien Buddha Got Sooo High Alien Buddha Press. 2021. Poems from the Heron Clan Vol. VIII Katherine James Books. 2021. Adfectus Exeter Publishing. 2021. Good Cop/Bad Cop Flowersong Press. 2021. Anthology House, Vol. 2 ASEI Arts. 2021. The Rastaman: Conversations with Bob Marley Alien Buddha Press. 2021. When This is All Over ... Creative Ink Publishing. 2021. The Alien Buddha Goes Pop Alien Buddha Press. 2021. Together Behind Four Walls Goldcrest Books. 2021. Protest 2021 Moonstone Arts Center. 2021. I Can't Breathe: A Poetic Anthology of Social Justice Kistrech Theatre International. 2021. IFLAC Peace Anthology: Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery International Forum for the Literature and Culture of Peace. 2021. Cooch Behar Anthology 2022. Reimagine America: An anthology for the future Vagabond Books. 2022. International Women's Day 2022 Moonstone Arts Center. 2022. Resist with every Inch and Breath Lonely Cryptid Media. 2022. Psalms of the Alien Buddha, Vol. 2 Alien Buddha Press. 2022. May Day 2022 Moonstone Arts Center. 2022. Poetry is Dead: An Inclusive Anthology of Deadhead Poetry Hercules Publishing. 2022. Yearning to Breathe Free: A Community Journal of 2020 Benicia Literary Arts. 2022. Storm Warning: Poets for the Planet Building Socialism Revolutionary Poets Brigade. 2022. The Protest Diaries B Cubed Press. 2022. Hiroshima Day Moonstone Arts Center. 2022. When There are Nine Moon Tide Press. 2022. Colossus: Freedom Colossus Press. 2022. Remembering Jack Kerouac on his 100th Birthday New Generation Beat Publications. 2022. Banned Books Week Moonstone Arts Center. 2022. The Alien Buddha's Microdoses Alien Buddha Press. 2022. Nooks & Crannies Benicia Literary Arts. 2022. 26th Annual Poetry Ink Anthology Moonstone Press. 2023. American Graveyard: Calls to End Gun Violence Read or Green Books. 2023. The Alien Buddha Gets Rejected, Vol. 2 Alien Buddha Press. 2023. The Alien Buddha Gets a Real Job, Vol. 2 Alien Buddha Press. 2023. The Working Man's Hand: Celebrating Woody Guthrie Poems of Protest and Resistance Fine Dog Press. 2023. Remembering Woody Guthrie Moonstone Press. 2023. Healing a Fractured World Kallatumba Press. 2023. I Never Could Talk to You L.A. Poetry Beach Festival. 2023. Which Side Are You On? Labor Day 2023 Moonstone Press. 2023. Remembering Pablo Neruda Moonstone Press. 2023. The Sparring Artists Mystic Boxing Commission/Peer Amid Press. 2023. Am Yisrael Chai UJA-Federation of New York. 2023. The Alien Buddha Loves You Alien Buddha Press. 2023. Bill of Rights Day 2023 Moonstone Press. 2023. About Time Red Penguin Books. 2024. To Write of Love During War UJA-Federation of New York. 2024. Starman Oddity: Poetry & Art Inspired by David Bowie Fevers of the Mind. 2024. World Healing, World Peace 2024 Inner Child Press. 2024. Traitor / Patriot: A Reflection of January 6 Moonstone Press. 2024. Avalanches in Poetry Vol III: Poetry, Writings & Art Inspired by Leonard Cohen Fevers of the Mind. Boundless 2024: the Anthology of the Rio Grande Valley International Poetry Festival Flowersong Press. 2024. The Vagabond Lunar Collection: an Anthology That's Out of This World Vagabond Books. 2024. Psalms of The Alien Buddha #3: The Final Track Alien Buddha Press. 2024. For All Revolutionary Poets Brigade. 2024. Fatal Force: Poetic Justice Moonstone Press. 2024. Peacocks & Poems 2024. Unsettled Benicia Literary Arts. 2024. Wheelsong Poetry Anthology, Vol 5. Wheelsong Books. 2024. Whispers Across Languages Barcelona Literary. 2024. Ain't No Deadbeats Around Here Like a Blot from the Blue. 2024. Human Rights Day Moonstone Press. 2024. Lost at 27: Musicians, Artists, Mortals Cicada Song Press. 2024. Whispers of Winter, Vol V. 2024. W.A.R. II ~ We Are Revolution, Too Much Blood 2025. Inner Child Press. Orange is not a Colour: Poems Against Totalitarianism Like a Blot from the Blue. 2025. Riders on the Storm Revolutionary Poets Brigade of San Francisco. 2025. Butterflies in Gaza: A World Anthology of Poems on Peace Nsemia Inc. Publishers. 2025. Remembering Joe Hill Moonstone Press. 2025. Depose Vagabond Books. 2025. Boundless 2026: the Anthology of the Rio Grande Valley International Poetry Festival Flowersong Press. 2026. These Poems Kill Fascists Like a Blot from the Blue. 2026. Freedom 250 Moonstone Press. 2026.

Poetry publications

Lang, D. L., "Prayer for Shomerim", Jewish Journal of Los Angeles, February 18, 2015 Lang, D. L., "Sheltering in Places", Benicia Herald, September 23, 2016 Lang, D. L., "Worldly Windows", Benicia Herald, November 4, 2016 Lang, D. L., "Stay", Benicia Herald, December 3, 2016 Lang, D. L., "Train Whistle Polka", Benicia Herald, December 15, 2017 Lang, D. L., "Benicia Bound", Benicia Herald, January 5, 2018 Lang, D. L., "Love Poetry Capital Blockade", Benicia Herald, February 23, 2018 Lang, D. L., "How to Swim through a Tornado", Benicia Herald, June 15, 2018 Lang, D. L., "The Woodpecker's Beat", Benicia Herald, September 7, 2018 Lang, D. L., "Turning: A Poem for Yom Kippur", Reformjudaism.org, September 17, 2018 Lang, D. L., "49 Lights", Vallejo Times Herald, pg. A9, March 19, 2019 Lang, D. L., "No Other Planet", Poetry Expressed Vol. 5, Spring 2020 Lang, D. L., "One Thousand Per Day", Frost Meadow Review, April 1, 2020 Lang, D. L., "What Remains is Love", Benicia Herald, pg A9, April 24, 2020 Lang, D. L., "July 4th, 2020", Benicia Herald, pg A3, July 26, 2020 Lang, D. L., "Pandemic Mismanagement", Benicia Herald, pg A3, September 30, 2020 Lang, D. L., "Commonalities", The Lake County Bloom, September 16, 2021 Lang, D. L., "These Wild Winds", The Lake County Bloom, September 23, 2021 Lang, D. L., "American Dream", The Free Venice Beachhead, Vol. 470, January 2022 Lang, D. L., "Columbia River Gorgeous", KALW Bay Poets, August 24, 2022 Lang, D. L., "Labor Shortage", Work & the Anthropocene, September 5, 2022 Lang, D. L., "What Dreams Danced Here?" The Lake County Bloom, October 20, 2022 Lang, D. L., "The Northwest" The Lake County Bloom, October 20, 2022 Lang, D. L., "Ars Poetica", Vallejo Weekly, October 19, 2023 Lang, D. L., "October is Filled with Sorrow", Benicia Herald, October 22, 2023, page A5 Lang, D. L., "I Pray for My People", Benicia Herald, November 5, 2023, page A5 Lang, D. L., "This Hanukkah", Benicia Herald, December 8, 2023, page B5 Lang, D. L., "Lightfoot Lives On", eMerge Magazine, January 8, 2024 Lang, D. L., "MLK", Benicia Herald, January 14, 2024, page A6 Lang, D. L., "In Wartime how Dare we Love?" Benicia Herald, February 25, 2024 Lang, D. L., "Owasso", Benicia Herald, March 1, 2024 Lang, D. L., "Falling Stars", California Quarterly, Vol. 50, No. 1, Spring 2024 Lang, D. L., "Love Letter to Louisiana", Suisun Valley Review, #40, Spring 2024, May 17, 2024 Lang, D. L., "Outlaw Code", Beat Poetry Outlaw series, Fevers of the Mind, May 22, 2024. Lang, D. L., "To Fulfill the Workers' Dream", Forward Together: CPUSA 32nd National Convention Program Book, pg 8. Lang, D. L., "Ignite", "The Freedom to Love", "There are Seven Blessings at the End of the Rainbow", Pride 2024, Alien Buddha Press, June 1, 2024. Lang, D. L., "Dylan", "Hope of All People", "Welcome ... Type HARD!!!", Hard Rain Poetry Series Inspired by Bob Dylan, Fevers of the Mind, June 4, 2024. Lang, D. L., "Displaced Lines", eMerge Magazine, July 8, 2024. Lang, D. L., "The Dreamers", "Poem for Woody Guthrie", "Revolution in Rhyme", "Living Dead", "Ode to Bob Dylan", Fevers of the Mind, July 26, 2024 Lang, D. L., "We Must Pick Up the Pieces", People's Tribune August 21, 2024 Lang, D. L., "A Roasted Poet Still Spits Fire", Emerge Magazine October 14, 2025 Lang, D. L., "Lennon", Fevers of the Mind, December 13, 2024 Lang, D. L., "How Can I Teach You to Follow a Dream?" California Poets January 8, 2025 Lang, D. L., "The Golden Gate", Emerge Magazine March 21, 2025 Lang, D. L., "National Librarian Axed" Benicia Library May 23, 2025 Lang, D. L., "Brian, what would We all be without You?" Fevers of the Mind June 11, 2025 Lang, D. L., "Apparitions of Fate", Emerge Magazine September 26, 2025 Lang, D. L., "Were We Not Afraid", Emerge Magazine November 28, 2025 Lang, D. L., “Heartbroken Holidays,” Benicia Herald December 19, 2025 Lang, D. L., “She was Good,” Benicia Herald January 16, 2026 Lang, D. L., “Injustice Isn’t Pretty,” Benicia Herald January 30, 2026 Lang, D. L., “Protecting women beyond Women’s Month,” Benicia Herald March 29, 2026

Articles and essays Lang, Diana L., "Enid's Ties to Railroad History", Enid News & Eagle, October 16, 2019 "A Collective Experience to Learn" Global Pandemic Crisis: A Series of Literary Essays on Quarantine Transcendent Zero Press. 2020. "Oklahoma Community Protests the Election of White Nationalist", People's Tribune, August 18, 2023 "Oklahoma Voters Successfully Recall White Nationalist", People's Tribune, April 25, 2024 "How Enid, Okla., united to remove a local fascist from office", People's World, May 7, 2024 "Proletarian verse and protest songs thrive at Woody Guthrie Folk Fest in Oklahoma", People's World, July 22, 2024. Billy Bragg: A People's History Spenwood Books. 2025.