Title
Special Recognition - Honoring the Outgoing and Incoming Poet Laureate
Recommended Action
Committee Recommendation:
Not referred to a committee.
City Manager Recommendation:
Recognize outgoing Poet Laureate Kathleen Byrd who served from 2023 - 2025 and welcome incoming the Poet Laureate, Ocean, who will serve as Poet Laureate for the 2025 - 2027 term.
Report
Issue:
Whether to recognize outgoing Poet Laureate Kathleen Byrd who served from 2023 - 2025 and welcome incoming the Poet Laureate, Ocean, who will serve as Poet Laureate for the 2025 - 2027 term.
Staff Contact:
Stephanie Johnson, Arts Program Manager, Parks, Arts & Recreation, 360.709.2678
Presenter(s):
Stephanie Johnson, Arts Program Manager
Kathleen Byrd, Olympia Poet Laureate 2023-2025
Ocean, Olympia Poet Laureate 2025-2027
Background and Analysis:
Every two years the City of Olympia selects a Poet Laureate to engage our entire community in the literary arts. Olympia's take on the position of Poet Laureate is less an honorary title and more about service over status. Duties include promoting poetry as an art form, expanding access to the literary arts, and encouraging poetry as a community voice that contributes to a sense of place.
Kathleen Byrd served as Olympia's second Poet Laureate to have a theme related to their tenure, which was centered around our environment and climate change.
During their term Kathleen:
* Coordinated a collaborative event with Paintings and Poetry at the Spring 2024 Arts Walk
* Conducted a poetry reading at the Fall 2024 Arts Walk
* Coordinated an Anthology of Olympia Poetry - "Still the Water: Olympia Poets on Place"
* Facilitated seven poetry reading groups
o Fall 2023 | The Hurting Kind by Ada Limon
o Winter 2024 | Trophic Cascade by Camille Dungy
o Spring 2024 | I Sing the Salmon Home edited by Rena Priest
o Summer 2024 | Living Nations, Living Words Edited by Joy Harjo
o Fall 2024 | You are Here: Poetry of the Natural World, edited by Ada Limon
o ...
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