The Washington State Poet Laureate builds awareness and appreciation of poetry through public readings, workshops, lectures, and presentations. Laureates perform this work in culturally and geographically diverse communities throughout the state. The Washington State Poet Laureate program is jointly sponsored by the Washington State Arts Commission (ArtsWA) and Humanities Washington.
Nominations are open for the 2025-27 Washington State Poet Laureate!
The Washington State Poet Laureate program, a collaboration between The Washington State Arts Commission (ArtsWA) and Humanities WA, is accepting nominations for the 2025-27 Washington State Poet Laureate. Self-nominations are accepted and encouraged.
Once appointed, ArtsWA and Humanities Washington provide funding for the honorarium ($40,000 annually), travel and project expenses, as well as administrative support for the Laureate.
The Laureate serves a two-year term, renewable in rare circumstances.
Deadline to nominate: Friday, December 6, 2024 at 11:59 p.m. PST
Eligibility
To be eligible for the Washington State Poet Laureate, a candidate must:
- Have significantly contributed to the poetic legacy of Washington State and show demonstrable commitment to serving as an ambassador for poetry to audiences throughout Washington State,
- Be a current Washington State resident and reside primarily in Washington State,
- Not be a previous Washington State Poet Laureate.
Important Dates
Nomination Opens: October 15, 2024
Nomination Closes: 11:59 p.m. PST, December 6, 2024
Notification of nomination status on or by: January 14, 2025
Nomination Finalists’ interviews with panel: January 21, 2025
The 2025-27 Poet Laureate’s term begins: May 1, 2025
Video: Nominating the 2023-25 Washington State Poet Laureate
Watch the information session for the 2023-2025 Nominations. Note that the guidelines and information are the same, but please view the updated dates in the current guidelines.
Meet Arianne True, the 2023-25 Washington State Poet Laureate
Arianne True (Choctaw, Chickasaw) is a disabled queer poet and teaching artist from Seattle, and has spent most of her work time working with youth. She’s received fellowships and residencies from Jack Straw, Artist Trust, and the Seattle Repertory Theater, among others, and is a proud alum of Hedgebrook and of the MFA program at the Institute of American Indian Arts. She lives in Tacoma with her cat and is always questing for high-quality dairy-free baked goods. Arianne is the 2023-2025 Washington State Poet Laureate.
Learn more at https://www.arts.wa.gov/washington-state-poet-laureate/ and follow her on Instagram at @wapoetlaureate and @ariannetrue.
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Queer Poetry Anthology
As part of Arianne True’s term as the Washington State Poet Laureate, she’s putting together an anthology of poems from queer writers of all stripes across the state.
📅 Upcoming Events
#POL20: A Conversation
Current Laureate Arianne True will join past Laureate Tod Marshall for a conversation about poetry, youth, spoken word, and the value of memorizing poetry. Special guest and 2024 Washington State Poetry Out Loud Champion Blaze Rowan will join the conversation.
📆November 14, 2024 | 4:30 PM PST
🌐Zoom, online event
Queer Anthology workshop
On Monday, November 13, 2023, Arianne True led a 75-minute queer writing workshop. Watch the recording below. The workshop handout on Hermit Crab Forms is available at this link.
- The Washington State Legislature passed a bill in 2007 to establish the Washington State Poet Laureate program. The bill recognized the value of poetry to the state’s culture and heritage.
- The Governor appoints the Laureate based on recommendations from a geographically and culturally diverse panel of representatives from Washington’s arts, humanities, and literary communities.
- Once appointed, ArtsWA and Humanities Washington provide funding for the honorarium ($40,000 annually), travel and project expenses, and administrative support for the Laureate.
- The Laureate serves a two-year term. The 2023-2025 Laureate’s term begins May 1, 2023.
Poet Laureate nominations are submitted using an online portal (Submittable).
A geographically and culturally diverse panel of representatives from Washington’s arts, humanities and literary communities score each nomination. The panel identifies finalists (generally up to three) to be interviewed by the panel. These interviews will happen via video conferencing/or in person depending on circumstances at that time. After the interviews, the panel makes a recommendation to Governor Inslee, who appoints at his discretion.
ArtsWA and Humanities Washington staff do not score nominations or make recommendations on candidates during the selection process but do help facilitate the process and answer technical questions.
Rena Priest
Claudia Castro Luna
Tod Marshall
Elizabeth Austen
Kathleen Flenniken
Samuel GreenQuestions?
Linnea Ingalls, Tribal Cultural Affairs Program Coordinator and ArtsWA lead for the Washington State Poet Laureate program.
Phone: 360-252-9969
Email: linnea.ingalls@arts.wa.gov
Additional support for the Poet Laureate program comes from Amazon Literary Partnership Poetry Fund and the Academy of American Poets.