List of U.S. states' Poets laureate - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Many U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

s have the post of poet laureate
Poet Laureate
A poet laureate is a poet officially appointed by a government and is often expected to compose poems for state occasions and other government events...

, which is typically held by a prominent poet. The responsibilities of the poet laureate are typically similar to those of the British Poet Laureate

Poet Laureate

A poet laureate is a poet officially appointed by a government and is often expected to compose poems for state occasions and other government events...

and the Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress

Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress

The Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress—commonly referred to as the United States Poet Laureate—serves as the nation's official poet. During his or her term, the Poet Laureate seeks to raise the national consciousness to a greater appreciation of the reading and writing of...

, to make public appearances and promote awareness of poetry and their geographical region.

Most holders of the these titles reach preeminence by public competition, and use the office to further the knowledge and enjoyment of poetry and the written word by citizens of the states in which they hold office.

Laureates have occasionally been controversial; former New Jersey

New Jersey

New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

laureate Amiri Baraka

Amiri Baraka

Amiri Baraka , formerly known as LeRoi Jones, is an American writer of poetry, drama, fiction, essays, and music criticism...

refused to resign after a controversy over a poem, and so New Jersey Governor

Governor of New Jersey

The Office of the Governor of New Jersey is the executive branch for the U.S. state of New Jersey. The office of Governor is an elected position, for which elected officials serve four year terms. While individual politicians may serve as many terms as they can be elected to, Governors cannot be...

Jim McGreevey

James Edward "Jim" McGreevey is an American Democratic politician. He served as the 52nd Governor of New Jersey from January 15, 2002, until he resigned from office at 11:59 pm on November 15, 2004. His term was set to expire on January 17, 2006...

abolished the position.

The following are the current Poets Laureate of their respective states:

State	Current incumbent	Term of office	Notes
Alabama Poet Laureate of Alabama The Poet Laureate of Alabama is the poet laureate for the U.S. state of Alabama. The position was established in 1931 by an act of the Alabama Legislature. Poets Laureate, who must have been Alabama residents for at least 15 years, are chosen by the governor, and serve 4-year terms.- List of Poets...	Sue Walker	2003–2012
Alaska	Nancy Lord	2008–2010
Arkansas	Peggy Vining	2003–
California California Poet Laureate The California Poet Laureate is the poet laureate for the U.S. state of California. In 2001, Governor Gray Davis created the official position. Each poet laureate for the State of California is appointed by the Governor of California for a term of two years and must be confirmed by the senate...	Carol Muske-Dukes Carol Muske-Dukes Carol Muske-Dukes is an American poet, novelist, essayist, critic, and professor, and the current poet laureate of California. Her most recent book of poetry, Sparrow , chronicling the love and loss of Muske-Dukes’ late husband, actor David Dukes, was a National Book Award finalist.-Life:She...	2008–
Colorado	David Mason David Mason (writer) David Mason is an American writer and the Poet Laureate of Colorado.-Life:David Mason was born and raised in Bellingham, Washington. He studied briefly at the Colorado College, but left after one year to work as a fisherman in Alaska. He returned to the college to earn his B.A. in 1978...	2010–
Connecticut	Dick Allen Dick Allen Richard Anthony Allen is a former Major League Baseball player and R&B singer. He played first and third base and outfield in Major League Baseball and ranked among his sport's top offensive producers of the 1960s and early 1970s...	2010–2015
Delaware	JoAnn Balingit	2008–
District of Columbia	Dolores Kendrick Dolores Kendrick Dolores Kendrick is an American poet, and Poet Laureate of the District of Columbia.Her book, The Women of Plums: Poems in the Voices of Slave Women, won the Annisfield-Wolfe Award.-Life:She is Vira I...	1999–
Florida	Edmund Skellings Edmund Skellings Edmund Skellings is a poet and has been the Poet Laureate of Florida since 1980. Skellings graduated with English honors from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He received his doctorate in English from the University of Iowa, where he taught prosody and metrics in the Iowa Writer's...	1980–
Georgia	David Bottoms David Bottoms David Bottoms is an American poet.-Biography:Bottoms' first book, Shooting Rats at the Bibb County Dump, was selected by Robert Penn Warren as winner of the 1979 Walt Whitman Award of the Academy of American Poets...	2000–
Idaho	Anthony Doerr Anthony Doerr Anthony Doerr is an American fiction writer. Raised in nearby Novelty, Ohio, he majored in history at Bowdoin College and earned an MFA from Bowling Green State University....	2007–2010	The title in Idaho is "Writer in Residence", not Poet Laureate
Illinois	Kevin Stein	2003–
Indiana Indiana State Poet Laureate The Indiana State Poet Laureate is the poet laureate for the U.S. state of Indiana. Senate Enrolled Act No. 433 created the made the position effective July 1, 2005, but Indiana had a well-established unofficial position of state poet laureate since 1929. Laureates serve a two year term...	Karen Kovacik Peggy Martin	2012 2007–2009	Now "premier poet" (unofficial laureate, a position in existence since 1929) as opposed to official laureate (since 2005)
Iowa	Mary Swander Mary Swander Mary Swander is U.S. author of the recent memoirs The Desert Pilgrim and Out of this World as well as three books of poetry, Heaven-and-Earth House, Driving the Body Back, and Succession....	2009–
Kansas	Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg is an American poet, writer and professor, honored as the third Kansas Poet Laureate . A professor at Goddard College, a private, liberal arts college in Plainfield, Vermont, she serves as the coordinator for the Transformative Language Arts track, which she initiated...	2009–2012
Kentucky	Gurney Norman Gurney Norman Gurney Norman is an American novelist, documentarian, and professor.-Biography:Gurney Norman was born in Grundy, Virginia in 1937...	2009–2011
Louisiana	Julie Kane Julie Kane Julie Kane is a contemporary American poet, scholar, and editor and the Louisiana Poet Laureate for the 2011-2013 term. Although born in Massachusetts, Kane has lived in Louisiana for over three decades and writes about the region with the doubled consciousness of a non-native...	2011‒2013
Maine	Wesley McNair Wesley McNair Wesley McNair is an American poet, writer, editor, and professor. He has authored nine collections of poetry, most recently, Lovers of the Lost: New and Selected Poems . In addition to his career in poetry, McNair has written three books of prose, including a memoir, The Words I Chose...	2011–2016
Maryland Poets Laureate of Maryland This is a list of Poets Laureate of Maryland.-References:**...	Stanley Plumly Stanley Plumly Stanley Plumly is an American poet, who is professor of English and director of University of Maryland, College Park's creative writing program....	2004–
Minnesota	Joyce Sutphen Joyce Sutphen Joyce Sutphen is an American poet, currently serving as Minnesota's Poet Laureate. She is the state's second laureate, appointed by Governor Mark Dayton in August, 2011. Sutphen also serves as a professor of English at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota.-Life:Sutphen was raised in...	2011–
Mississippi	(none)	Successor not yet named	Winifred Hamrick Farrar Winifred Hamrick Farrar Winifred Hamrick Farrar was the last Poet Laureate of Mississippi.She was born on a family farm near Collinsville. She graduated from the University of Mississippi in 1945, married Robert H. Farrar, and taught English for thirty years in public schools in Meridian... died in 2010
Missouri Poets Laureate of Missouri This is a list of Poets Laureate of Missouri.-References:-External links:...	David Clewell David Clewell -Life:He graduated from University of Wisconsin and Washington University with an M.F.A.He teaches at Webster University.His work has appeared Harper's, Poetry, The Kenyon Review, The Missouri Review, The Georgia Review, Ontario Review, New Letters, and Yankee.He lives in St...	2010–2012
Montana	Sheryl Noethe	2011‒
Nebraska	(none)	Successor not yet named
Nevada	Norman Kaye	1967–2007
New Hampshire	Walter E. Butts	2009–
New Jersey Poet Laureate of New Jersey The Poet Laureate of New Jersey position was created on October 4, 1999. Gerald Stern was appointed first New Jersey poet laureate on April 17, 2000, by Governor Christie Whitman. The second poet laureate, Amiri Baraka was dismissed after reading his poem "Somebody Blew Up America" at the September...	(none)	Existed 1999‒2002	Amiri Baraka Amiri Baraka Amiri Baraka , formerly known as LeRoi Jones, is an American writer of poetry, drama, fiction, essays, and music criticism... was Poet Laureate from 1999–2002 before the position was eliminated.
New York	Jean Valentine Jean Valentine Jean Valentine is an American poet, and currently the New York State Poet . Her poetry collection, Door in the Mountain: New and Collected Poems, 1965–2003, was awarded the 2004 National Book Award for Poetry....	2008–2010
North Carolina	Cathy Smith Bowers	2010–
North Dakota	Larry Woiwode Larry Woiwode Larry Alfred Woiwode is an American writer who lives in North Dakota, where he has been the state's Poet Laureate since 1995. His work has appeared in The New Yorker, Esquire, The Atlantic Monthly, Harpers, Gentleman's Quarterly, The Partisan Review and The Paris Review...	1995–
Oklahoma	Jim Barnes Jim Barnes (writer) Jim Weaver McKown Barnes is a Native American author born near Summerfield, Oklahoma and is of Choctaw and Welsh heritage. He received his BA from Southeastern State College in Durant, OK in 1964 and his MA and Ph.D. from the University of Arkansas...	2009–
Oregon	Paulann Petersen	2010–2012
Pennsylvania	(none)	Existed 1993‒2003
Rhode Island	Lisa Starr	2007–
South Carolina	Marjory Heath Wentworth	2003–
South Dakota	David Allan Evans David Allan Evans David Allan Evans USA is an American poet. Since 2002, he is the poet laureate of the U.S. state of South Dakota.-Life:...	2002–
Tennessee	Margaret Britton Vaughn	1999–
Texas	David M. Parsons	2011–
Utah	Katharine Coles	2006–2011
Vermont	Ruth Stone Ruth Stone Ruth Stone was an American poet, author, and teacher.-Life and career:In 1959, after her husband, professor Walter Stone, committed suicide, she was forced to raise three daughters alone...	2007–
Virginia Poet Laureate of Virginia The position of Poet Laureate of Virginia was established December 18, 1936 by the General Assembly.Originally the Poet Laureate of Virginia was appointed without outside consultation by the General Assembly, usually for one year. The procedure was later changed and most recently codified in 1998...	Kelly Cherry Kelly Cherry Kelly Cherry is an author, poet, and the Poet Laureate of Virginia,. A resident of Halifax, Virginia, she was named the state's Poet Laureate by Governor Bob McDonnell in July 2010...	2010–2012
Washington	(none)		Samuel Green Samuel Green (poet) Samuel Green is the current Poet Laureate of the State of Washington. Green is the author of ten poetry collections, including The Grace of Necessity, which won the 2008 Washington State Book Award for Poetry.... was Poet Laureate from 2007–2009 before the position was eliminated.
West Virginia	Irene McKinney Irene McKinney Irene McKinney is an American poet and editor, and has served as the Poet Laureate of the State of West Virginia since 1993.-Published Poetry Collections:*Unthinkable: Collected Poems 1976-2004...	1993–
Wisconsin	Bruce Dethlefsen	2010–
Wyoming	David Romtvedt David Romtvedt -Life:He graduated from Reed College, and the Iowa Writers' Workshop.He teaches at University of Wyoming. He lives in Buffalo, Wyoming, with his wife, the potter Margo Brown.His work appears in The Sun Magazine, Prairie Schooner, Missouri Review,...	2004–

There has never been an official State Poet Laureate in Arizona

Arizona

Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...

, Hawaii

Hawaii

Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...

, Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

, Michigan

Michigan

Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....

, New Mexico

New Mexico

New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...

, or Ohio

Ohio

Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...

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