meet some laureates

Marie Marchand
photo by Sami Jo

Laura Da’
photo by Dean Davis

Sah Pham

CMarie Fuhrman
photo by Dean Davis

Stacy Boe Miller

Fiona Tinwei Lam
photo by Holly Hoffman

Louise Bernice Halfe / Sky Dancer
photo: Library of Parliament

Appointments for the poets laureate of cities, states, and nations do not run on a single schedule. Terms of service vary and some terms have been extended thanks to recent disruptions.

Here are a number of recent-ish appointments in the Cascadia region (for more, see additional poets laureate posts):

Marie Marchand began her one-year term (renewable for up to three years) as the first Poet Laureate of Ellensburg, Washington, in April 2022.

Laura Da’ is the 2022-2023 Poet Laureate of Redmond, Washington.

Sah Pham is the 2022/23 Seattle Youth Poet Laureate.

Appointed in 2021, CMarie Fuhrman is the Idaho State Poet Laureate and Writer in Residence.

Stacy Boe Miller is the 2021-2024 Poet Laureate of Moscow, Idaho.

Fiona Tinwei Lam is the 2022-2024 Poet Laureate of Vancouver, British Columbia.

And last, but not least, Louise Bernice Halfe — Sky Dancer became Canada’s Parliamentary Poet Laureate on January 1, 2021, and will serve a two-year term.

We congratulate these poets and thank them for bringing the voice and spirit of poetry into communities across the country.

Some poems to watch

A handful of poetry films, listed alphabetically by poet (watch films for additional credits):

Safia Elhillo “Application for the position of Abdelhalim Hafez’s girl”

Mary Elizabeth Frye “Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep”

Fiona Tinwei Lam “PlasticPoems”

Alice Oswald “Shadow”

Percy Bysshe Shelley “Ozymandias”

Eduardo Yagüe “Los caballos están tristes” / “The horses are so sad”

poetry films

Fiona Tinwei Lam is a poet and filmmaker. Watch a selection of short poetry videos on her website.