List of U.S. states' Poets Laureate

Many of the states in the United States have established the post of poet laureate to which a prominent poet residing in the respective state is appointed. The responsibilities of the state poets laureate are similar to those of the Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom and the equivalent Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in the United States, to make public appearances at poetry readings or literary events, and to promote awareness of poetry within their geographical region.

As of 2013^[update], 44 states and the District of Columbia have poets laureate, although a few are presently vacant. The terms can vary in length from state to state. Most states appoint a poet laureate for a one- or two-year term, fewer to several years, and some states appoint a poet to a lifetime tenure. Two states, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, previously had such posts but abolished them in 2003. Michigan had a single poet laureate from 1952 - 1959. There has never been an official State Poet Laureate in Massachusetts, New Mexico, or Ohio. While Idaho does not have a post of "poet laureate", per se, the state appoints a "Writer in Residence", which can be held by a novelist or poet. The current occupant of the Idahoan post is novelist and short-story writer Diane Raptosh.

The following lists of state poets laureate below are divided by state. The name of the current poet laureate is in bold.

Alabama has had an official poet laureate since 1930. The Alabama Writer's Conclave, described as "a voluntary organization of Alabama historians, playwrights, fiction writers, poets, and newspaper writers" first recommended Samuel Minturn Peck to Governor Bibb Graves. The state legislature approved a bill to create the office on March 5, 1931. After the death of Dr. Peck, the position was not filled and was revived in 1954 due to the efforts Mary B. Ward, the president of the Alabama Writer's Conclave, who became the state's second laureate.

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