The Poet Laureate of Minnesota is the

poet laureate A poet laureate (plural: poets laureate) is a poet officially appointed by a government or conferring institution, typically expected to compose poems for special events and occasions. Albertino Mussato of Padua and Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch ...

for the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the List of U.S. states and territories by population, 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minne ...

. The Poet Laureate attends public events and is expected to celebrate Minnesota's cultural history, engaging the youth and marginalized voices in poetry. According to the office of the Governor, the Poet Laureate "may promote the reading and writing of poetry, preside over poetry awards and contests and write poetry or select poets to compose works for significant state occasions."

History

Following the foundation of the League of Minnesota Poets in 1934, Margarette Ball Dickson was named Minnesota's first poet laureate by the national Poet Laureate League. A letter she received from the Governor recognized her appointment. In 1973, local media announced the election of a new poet laureate. Columnist Abe Altrowitz, designated Minnesota Commissioner of Poetry by the Governor, named Laurene Tibbetts-Larson as Minnesota's poet laureate on May 14, 1974. Legislation to make the poet laureate position official was introduced on February 19, 1974, but did not pass. Further bills to create an official poet laureate were introduced on April 1, 2004, and February 4, 2005, but were also unsuccessful. In his veto of the latter bill, Governor

Tim Pawlenty Timothy James Pawlenty (; born November 27, 1960) is an American attorney, businessman, and politician who served as the 39th governor of Minnesota from 2003 to 2011. A member of the Republican Party, Pawlenty served in the Minnesota House o ...

, noted that "Even though we have a state 'folklorist,' I also have concern this will lead to calls for other similar positions. We could also see requests for a state

mime Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) is an Internet standard that extends the format of email messages to support text in character sets other than ASCII, as well as attachments of audio, video, images, and application programs. Messa ...

interpretive dance Interpretive dance is a family of modern dance styles that began around 1900 with Isadora Duncan. It used classical concert music but marked a departure from traditional concert dance. It seeks to translate human emotions, conditions, situations o ...

r or potter." The official position of Poet Laureate of Minnesota was established on May 25, 2007.

Robert Bly Robert Elwood Bly (December 23, 1926 – November 21, 2021) was an American poet, essayist, activist and leader of the mythopoetic men's movement. His best-known prose book is '' Iron John: A Book About Men'' (1990), which spent 62 weeks on ...

was appointed Minnesota poet laureate on February 27, 2008. He was succeeded by

Joyce Sutphen Joyce Sutphen (born August 10, 1949) is an American poet who served as Minnesota's Poet Laureate from 2011 to 2021. She was the state's second laureate, appointed by Governor Mark Dayton in August, 2011 to succeed Robert Bly. Sutphen is professor ...

on August 23, 2011. Sutphen relinquished the position in April 2021. Governor

Tim Walz Timothy James Walz ( ; born April 6, 1964) is an American politician and retired educator. A member of the Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), he has served as the 41st governor of Minnesota since 2019. Born in West Point, Nebraska, Wal ...

and Lieutenant Governor

Peggy Flanagan Peggy Flanagan (born September 22, 1979) is an American Democratic political organizer, activist, and politician serving as the 50th lieutenant governor of Minnesota. Flanagan has been involved in various political campaigns and progressive poli ...

appointed

Gwen Westerman Gwen Westerman (also known as Gwen Nell Westerman) is a Dakota educator, writer and artist. She is the Director of the Native American Literature Symposium. She was appointed by Governor Tim Walz as Minnesota's third Poet Laureate in September 20 ...

as Poet Laureate of Minnesota on September 9, 2021. Poetry Out Loud MN finals 27

List of Poets Laureate

References

External links

Poets Laureate of Minnesota at the Library of Congress
{{Global Poets Laureate, state=autocollapse Minnesota culture American Poets Laureate