Poets laureate

U.S. Poet Laureate, 2025-2026

The Library of Congress announced the appointment of Arthur Sze as the nation’s 25th Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry on September 15th, 2025.

Arthur Sze was born in New York City in 1950 to Chinese immigrants.

He is the author of 12 poetry collections, most recently “Into the Hush” (2025)

“Sight Lines” (2019), which won the National Book Award for Poetry

In addition to the Bobbitt Prize, Sze’s honors include the Bollingen Prize for American Poetry from Yale University, the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize from the Poetry Foundation

he is a professor emeritus at the Institute of American Indian Arts and was the first poet laureate of Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he lives.

Sze succeeds Ada Limón as Poet Laureate

U.S. Poet Laureate, 2022-2025

Ada Limón was born in Sonoma, California, in 1976 and is of Mexican ancestry.

“The Carrying” (Milkweed Editions, 2018), which won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry

“The Hurting Kind,” (Milkweed Editions, 2022), shortlisted for the 2023 Griffin Poetry Prize

The 2024 signature project by Poet Laureate Ada Limón features two major initiatives, an anthology of 50 commissioned nature poems and poetry installed as public art in seven national parks across the country

Ada Limón wrote an original poem, "In Praise of Mystery: A Poem for Europa," dedicated to NASA's Europa Clipper mission.

In 2023 Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden appointed Ada Limón for a two-year second term—the first time a laureate has been appointed for the longer option.

U.S. Poet Laureate, 2019-2022

Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden appointed Joy Harjo as the 23rd Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress on June 19, 2019.

Harjo is the first Native American to serve in the position; she is an enrolled member of the Muscogee Creek Nation.

Harjo was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on May 9, 1951

An American Sunrise (2019); Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings (2015)

Crazy Brave (W. W. Norton, 2012), which won the 2013 PEN Center USA literary prize for creative nonfiction

Created in 2020 by Poet Laureate Joy Harjo, this project gathers a sampling of work by 47 contemporary Native poets from across the nation

Joy Harjo was appointed to a third term in order for her to further develop and extend her signature poet laureate project, "Living Nations, Living Words."

U.S. Poet Laureate, 2017-2019

Tracy K. Smith was the 22nd U.S. Poet Laureate.

She edited the anthology “American Journal: Fifty Poems for Our Time” (Graywolf/Library of Congress) during her laureateship and launched the American Public Media podcast “The Slowdown.”

“Life on Mars,” winner of the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry

During 2018, Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith visited rural communities around the country and gave away copies of her anthology, American Journal: Fifty Poems for Our Time , to spark conversations about the power of poetry.

U.S. Poet Laureate, 2015-2017

Juan Felipe Herrera was born in Fowler, California, in 1948.

Half the World in Light: New and Selected Poems (2008), winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award and the International Latino Book Award

Herrera served as the Poet Laureate of California from 2012-2015.

In 2015, Poet Laureate Juan Felipe Herrera established La Casa de Colores as “a house for all voices” with two features: La Familia, an epic crowdsourced poem, with monthly themes; and El Jardín

Poet Laureate Juan Felipe Herrera and artist Juana Medina created this bilingual, illustrated poem in 2016-2017

U.S. Poet Laureate, 2014-2015

Charles Wright was born in Pickwick Dam, Tennessee, on August 25, 1935, and attended Davidson College and the University of Iowa Writer’s Workshop.

He is the author of 24 poetry collections, including, most recently, Caribou (2014).

Wright’s major honors include the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the Rebekah Johnson Bobbitt National Prize for Poetry from the Library of Congress.

U.S. Poet Laureate, 2012-2014

Natasha Trethewey was born in Gulfport, Mississippi, on April 26, 1966.

She served two terms as the 19th Poet Laureate of the United States (2012-2014)

Native Guard (2006 ), for which she was awarded the 2007 Pulitzer Prize

She is also author of Memorial Drive: A Daughter’s Memoir (2020)

Launched in 2013 by Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey, this project featured a series of reports with PBS NewsHour Senior Correspondent Jeffrey Brown as part of the show's Poetry Series.

resided in the Washington, D.C., area from January through May of 2013 and worked in the Poetry Room, the first time the poet laureate has done so since the inception of the position in 1986.

U.S. Poet Laureate, 2011-2012

Philip Levine was born in Detroit, Michigan, in 1928, and served as the 18th U.S. Poet Laureate from 2011-2012.

What Work Is (1991), winner of the National Book Award, and The Simple Truth (1994), winner of the Pulitzer Prize

Levine taught literature and creative writing at California State University, Fresno from 1958-1992.

U.S. Poet Laureate, 2008-2010

Kay Ryan was born in 1945 in San Jose, California, and grew up in the San Joaquin Valley and the Mojave Desert.

The Best of It: New and Selected Poems (2010), for which she won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry

Kay Ryan’s honors include a MacArthur Genius Grant, a National Humanities Medal, fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Guggenheim Foundation, and a Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize.

Her project as laureate, “ Poetry for the Mind’s Joy, ” included a poetry-writing contest, a video conference with students at community colleges, and designation of April 1 as Community College Poetry Day.

U.S. Poet Laureate, 2007-2008

Charles Simic was born in Belgrade, former Yugoslavia, on May 9, 1938.

The World Doesn’t End: Prose Poems (1989), which received the Pulitzer Prize

Selected Poems: 1963-2003 (2004), which received the International Griffin Poetry Prize

He served as the 15th Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress

His other honors and awards include the Frost Medal, the Wallace Stevens Award from the Academy of American Poets, and the PEN Translation Prize.

U.S. Poet Laureate, 2006-2007

Donald Hall was born in Hamden, Connecticut, in 1928.

He published more than 20 poetry collections, including Exiles and Marriages (1955), The Happy Man (1986), and The One Day (1988), which won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry.

He also wrote four biographies, three plays, more than 10 children’s books and short stories, and six memoirs.

U.S. Poet Laureate, 2004-2006

Ted Kooser (1939- ) was born in Ames, Iowa, and received his bachelor’s degree from Iowa State and his master’s in English from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln.

He is the author of more than 10 collections of poetry, including Kindest Regards (2018) and Delights & Shadows (2004), which won the Pulitzer Prize.

Poet Laureate Ted Kooser founded this project in 2004 to create a space and a presence for poetry in American culture.

American Life in Poetry provided newspapers and online periodicals with a free weekly column by Kooser that featured a poem from a contemporary American poet.

U.S. Poet Laureate, 2001-2003

Billy Collins (1941- ) was born in New York City.

His poetry collections include Sailing Alone Around the Room: New and Selected Poems (2001); Picnic, Lightning (1998); and The Art of Drowning (1995).

In October 2004, Collins was the inaugural recipient of the Poetry Foundation’s Mark Twain Award for humorous poetry.

this project, launched in 2002 during Billy Collins’ tenure as Poet Laureate, gives students a chance to read or listen to a poem on each of the 180 days of the school year.

Special Bicentennial Consultant, 1999-2000

U.S. Poet Laureate, 2003-2004

Louise Glück was born in New York City in 1943.

Faithful and Virtuous Night (2014), which won the National Book Award

The Wild Iris (1992), which won the Pulitzer Prize

In 2020, Glück was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.

named the 12th Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 2003

Special Bicentennial Consultant, 1999-2000

U.S. Poet Laureate, 2010-2011

Merwin was born in New York City in 1927.

The Carrier of Ladders (1971), winner of the Pulitzer Prize

Migration: New and Selected Poems (2005), winner of the National Book Award

His other honors include a second Pulitzer Prize (for The Shadow of Sirius in 2009), the Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize, and the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize.

Merwin served as a special Bicentennial Consultant for the Library of Congress from 1999-2000, and as Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry from 2010-2011.

He lived in Hawaii until his death in 2019.

U.S. Poet Laureate, 1997-2000

Robert Pinsky was born in Long Branch, New Jersey, in 1940.

In 1997, Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky launched this project as a way to celebrate, document, and encourage a public appreciation of poetry

Robert Pinsky served a third term by special request of the Librarian during the Library's Bicentennial

The Figured Wheel: New and Collected Poems 1966-1996 (1996)

U.S. Poet Laureate, 1995-1997

Robert Hass was born in San Francisco, California in 1941.

U.S. Poet Laureate, 1993-1995

Special Bicentennial Consultant, 1999-2000

Rita Dove was born in Akron, Ohio, in 1952.

She is the author of 11 collections of poetry, most recently “Playlist from the Apocalypse: Poems” (2021).

In 1999, Librarian of Congress James H. Billington appointed three Special Consultants ( Rita Dove , W. S. Merwin , and Louise Glück ) to assist with the poetry programs of the Bicentennial Year.

“Thomas and Beulah” (1986), winner of the Pulitzer Prize

She was also appointed the Poet Laureate of the Commonwealth of Virginia from 2004-2006

U.S. Poet Laureate, 1992-1993

Mona Van Duyn was born in Waterloo, Iowa, in 1921.

was the first woman appointed as Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 1992-1993.

Near Changes (1990), winner of the Pulitzer Prize

U.S. Poet Laureate, 1991-1992

Joseph Brodsky (1940-1996) was born in Leningrad (present-day St. Petersburg), Russia.

Since 1991, following the lead of Joseph Brodsky, poets laureate have frequently developed and launched signature projects with a national reach.

Brodsky received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1987, was appointed the Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 1991-92

U.S. Poet Laureate, 1990-1991

Mark Strand was born on Prince Edward Island, Canada, in 1934.

Blizzard of One (1998), which won the Pulitzer Prize

U.S. Poet Laureate, 1987-1988

Richard Wilbur was born in New York City in 1921.

Things of This World (1956), which won the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award; and New and Collected Poems (1988), for which Wilbur received a second Pulitzer Prize.

U.S. Poet Laureate, 1986-1987

U.S. Consultant in Poetry, 1944-1945

Warren (1905-1989) was born in Kentucky and educated at Vanderbilt University and the University of California, Berkeley.

Until 1944, when Librarian of Congress Archibald MacLeish appointed the space to Consultant in Poetry Robert Penn Warren

He is the only writer to have won Pulitzer Prizes for both fiction (in 1947) and poetry (in 1958 and 1979).

U.S. Consultant in Poetry, 1985-1986

Gwendolyn Brooks was born in Topeka, Kansas, in 1917.

The Library of Congress considers Gwendolyn Brooks, the final consultant in poetry, the 29th person to have occupied the consultantship.

U.S. Consultant in Poetry, 1984-1985

Robert Fitzgerald was born in Springfield, Illinois, in 1910.

U.S. Consultant in Poetry, 1982-1984

Anthony Hecht was born in New York City in 1923.

U.S. Consultant in Poetry, 1981-1982

Maxine Kumin was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1925.

U.S. Consultant in Poetry, 1978-1980

William Meredith was born in New York City in 1919.

U.S. Consultant in Poetry, 1976-1978

Robert Hayden was born in Detroit, Michigan, in 1913.

Hayden was appointed Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1976, the first African American to hold the position.

U.S. Consultant in Poetry, 1974-1976

U.S. Poet Laureate, 2000-2001

Stanley Kunitz was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1905.

Kunitz twice served as the nation’s poet: as Consultant in Poetry from 1974-1976, and as Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry from 2000-2001.

Selected Poems, 1928-1958 (1958), which won the Pulitzer Prize; Passing Through: The Later Poems, New and Selected (1995), winner of the National Book Award

His other honors include a National Medal of Arts, the Bollingen Prize, and the Robert Frost Medal.

U.S. Consultant in Poetry, 1973-1974

Daniel Hoffman was born in New York in 1923.

U.S. Consultant in Poetry, 1971-1973

Josephine Jacobsen was born in Cobourg, Ontario, Canada in 1908.

U.S. Consultant in Poetry, 1970-1971

William Stafford was born in Hutchinson, Kansas, in 1914.

U.S. Consultant in Poetry, 1968-1970

William Jay Smith was born in Winnfield, Louisiana, in 1918.

U.S. Consultant in Poetry, 1966-1968

James Dickey was born in Buckhead, Georgia, in 1923.

U.S. Consultant in Poetry, 1965-1966

Stephen Spender was born in London, England, in 1909.

Stephen Spender (England) was the first and only non-U.S. citizen to serve as consultant in poetry.

U.S. Consultant in Poetry, 1964-1965

U.S. Consultant in Poetry, 1984-1985

Reed Whittemore was born in New Haven, Connecticut.

U.S. Consultant in Poetry, 1963-1964

U.S. Poet Laureate, 1988-1990

Howard Nemerov was born in New York City in 1920.

He served two terms as the nation’s official poet (from 1963-64 as Consultant in Poetry, and from 1988-1990 as Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry)

The Collected Poems of Howard Nemerov (1977), which won the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, and the Bollingen Prize.

U.S. Consultant in Poetry, 1961-1963

Untermeyer (1885-1977) was born in New York City.

U.S. Consultant in Poetry, 1959-1961

Richard Eberhart was born in Austin, Minnesota, in 1905.

Eberhart died at the age of 101.

U.S. Consultant in Poetry, 1958-1959

Robert Frost was born in San Francisco, California, in 1874.

For example, Robert Frost, who occupied the position from 1958 to 1959, was a consultant in poetry, not a poet laureate.

He was invited to read at the inauguration of President John F. Kennedy in 1961.

U.S. Consultant in Poetry, 1956-1958

Randall Jarrell was born in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1914.

U.S. Consultant in Poetry, 1952

Williams (1883-1963) was born in New Jersey and educated at the University of Pennsylvania.

(William Carlos Williams was appointed but did not serve, and usually is not included in the count of consultants).

U.S. Consultant in Poetry, 1950-1952

Conrad Aiken was born in Savannah, Georgia, in 1889.

In 1924, Aiken edited Emily Dickinson’s Selected Poems , the first English edition of her work.

U.S. Consultant in Poetry, 1949-1950

Elizabeth Bishop was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1911.

the consultant's office was in the room of the suite which offered a magnificent view of the U.S. Capitol that also inspired Elizabeth Bishop's poem, "View of the Capitol from the Library of Congress."

U.S. Consultant in Poetry, 1948-1949

Adams (1899-1988) was born in Brooklyn, New York.

U.S. Consultant in Poetry, 1947-1948

Robert Lowell was born in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1917.

U.S. Consultant in Poetry, 1946-1947

Karl Shapiro (1913-2000) was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and received his bachelor’s degree from Johns Hopkins University.

U.S. Consultant in Poetry, 1945-1946

Louise Bogan was born in Livermore Falls, Maine, in 1897.

U.S. Consultant in Poetry, 1943-1944

Allen Tate was born in Winchester, Kentucky, in 1899.

Allen Tate , the second consultant in poetry

U.S. Consultant in Poetry, 1937-1941

Joseph Auslander was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1897.

Governor Gavin Newsom announced in April the reappointment of Fresno’s Lee Herrick to serve a second two-year term as California’s Poet Laureate .

The Governor chooses the poet, and Senate approves the appointment.

2023 – 2025: Lee Herrick

On January 28, 2026, Governor Polis announced that Crisosto Apache has been selected as the new Colorado Poet Laureate, succeeding the late Andrea Gibson.

Apache, an indigenous poet and Associate Professor at Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design, will serve in the role for two years

Apache is the author of the poetry collections “GENESIS,” “Ghostword,”

José B. González is an award-winning author, poet, educator and proud immigrant who believes in the power of poetry to inspire and transform lives. Meet the Poet Laureate

Governor Jack Markell appointed the Twin Poets, Representative Nnamdi O. Chukwuocha and Albert Mills, as 17th Poets Laureate of the State of Delaware on December 13, 2015.

Delaware’s Poet Laureate is an honorary position appointed by, and serving at the pleasure of, the Governor.

Named Florida's Poet Laureate by Governor Rick Scott in June, 2015, Peter Meinke's work has appeared in the Atlantic, The New Yorker

State Poet Laureates must serve a term of four (4) years.

Lee A. Tonouchi announced as 2026-2029 Hawaii Poet Laureate

The Hawaiʻi State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, Hawaiʻi Council for the Humanities, and Hawaiʻi State Public Library System are pleased to announce the selection of Lee A. Tonouchi as the new Poet Laureate of Hawaiʻi.

Governor JB Pritzker, alongside the Illinois Arts Council (IAC), Illinois Humanities and the Poetry Foundation, will announce Mark Turcotte as the newest Illinois Poet Laureate.

Turcotte, a member of the Turtle Mountain Band Anishinaabe, is a published poet and author who currently serves as Poet-in-Residence at DePaul University.

Dr. Paul Brooke has been named the Iowa Poet Laureate by Governor Kim Reynolds for the 2026–2028 term

the Kansas Creative Arts Industries Commission (KCAIC) has selected Traci Brimhall as the 2023-2026 Poet Laureate of Kansas.

will become the state’s eighth Poet Laureate when her four-year term begins on January 1.

Kathleen Driskell 2025-2026 Poet Laureate

Kathleen Driskell has authored of six poetry collections, most recently “Goat-Footed Gods.”

Gina Ferrara, 2025-2027

The Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, along with Gov. Jeff Landry, is proud to announce Louisiana’s newest Poet Laureate , Gina Ferrara.

Ferrara assumed the post on August 14 and will serve for two years.

Dawn Potter is Maine’s seventh Poet Laureate, serving a term from 2026 to 2031.

Lady Brion (2024 - )

In 2024 she was appointed by Governor Wes Moore as the Poet Laureate of Maryland, making her the youngest Poet Laureate in Maryland’s history

Governor Maura Healey swore in Regie Gibson as the inaugural Poet Laureate of Massachusetts .

Ann Fisher-Wirth is the current laureate, whose term will expire in April 2029.

On May 15, 2025, Governor Tate Reeves announced Ann Fisher-Wirth as Mississippi’s Poet Laureate.

Governor Mike Kehoe announced the appointment of Justin Hamm , of Mexico, as the Missouri Poet Laureate

Hamm's two-year term as Missouri Poet Laureate begins October 1, 2025, and runs through September 30, 2027.

Governor Jim Pillen announced that Jewel Rodgers, of Omaha, has been designated as Nebraska’s next State Poet.

Rodgers will be installed as Nebraska State Poet for 2025-2029

Shaun Griffin was appointed to this role on May 1, 2024 , and will serve through April 30, 2026.

The Nevada State Poet Laureate is a Governor appointed position.

Manuel González, Current New Mexico State Poet Laureate

Appointed by New Mexico Arts and the New Mexico State Library, divisions of the Department of Cultural Affairs, González will begin his three-year term effective immediately.

Governor Katie Hobbs announced the appointment of celebrated poet Dr. Laura Tohe as Poet Laureate for the State of Arizona.

Dr. Tohe is the second person in the state’s history to serve as Arizona Poet Laureate.

Meet Indiana's Poet Laureate Curtis L. Crisler

In 2012 the Indiana Poet Laureate started serving a calendar year, two-year term.

Governor Gianforte has named Allen Morris Jones of Bozeman as Montana’s Poet Laureate for 2025–2027.

The New York State Writers Institute proudly announces novelist Min Jin Lee has been named the new State Author and Kimiko Hahn the new State Poet

Jaki Shelton Green is North Carolina’s current Poet Laureate.

She was first appointed North Carolina Poet Laureate in 2018. Governor Roy Cooper reappointed her in May 2021.

About Ohio's Current Poet Laureate Edward A. Julian Sr.

The 2026-27 Ohio Poet Laureate's term ends on December 31, 2027.

Jay Snider Cyril, Oklahoma 2025-2026 Oklahoma State Poet Laureate

Snider was appointed to a second two-year term in the honorary position beginning in 2025.

Ellen Waterston began her second term as the 11th Oregon Poet Laureate in August 2026.

Gov. Tina Kotek appointed High Desert author Ellen Waterston to a second two-year term as Poet Laureate in April 2026.

Governor Henry McMaster today appointed Russell “Patrick” Davis to serve as South Carolina's Poet Laureate.

Kevin Prufer, the 2026 State Poet Laureate, is the author of the poetry collection How He Loved Them

The Utah Division of Arts & Museums is pleased to announce the appointment of Lisa Bickmore as Utah Poet Laureate.

Bickmore will serve a five-year term.

The Utah Poet Laureate is a Governor-appointed advocate for literature and the arts throughout the state

I, Philip B. Scott, Governor, hereby name BIANCA STONE Vermont Poet Laureate

on this 1st day of May, A.D. 2024

Dr. Latorial Faison was named the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Poet Laureate by Governor Spanberger on July 20, 2026, a role in which she will serve a two-year term.

is the state's current poet laureate, serving from 2025 - 2027.

currently held by Brenda Cárdenas, who was appointed through December, 2027.

The Poet Laureate shall serve as an expert and will compose and deliver works for special events and occasions.

Dr. Denise Lajimodiere 2023-2028

the 68th Legislative Assembly modified the program and appointed Dr. Denise Lajimodiere in 2023 to serve a two-year term.

the 69th Legislative Assembly handed the program over to North Dakota Council on the Arts (NDCA) in 2025

Today, Governor Dan McKee named Colin Channer as Rhode Island's 7th Poet Laureate.

Release date: 03-05-2024

2025-2027 Washington State Poet Laureate Derek Sheffield.

Celebrated poet and professor Derek Sheffield is Washington’s eighth State Poet Laureate.

Governor Brian P. Kemp and Georgia's Poet Laureate, Chelsea Rathburn, in collaboration with Georgia Council for the Arts