Apply to be Houston’s Poet Laureate (due by Friday, March 13, 2015)
Mayor Annise Parker and Houston Public Library (HPL) Director Dr. Rhea Brown Lawson recently announced that the City of Houston is seeking its second Poet Laureate.The current Poet Laureate is author Gwen Zepeda.
The Houston Poet Laureate Program (HPLP) celebrates Houston’s rich culture and diversity through the work of a poet who will represent the city by creating excitement about poetry through outreach, programs, teaching, and written work.
Gwen Zepeda, Houston Poet LaureateThe new Houston Poet Laureate will receive an annual honorarium of $5,000 through the City’s Initiative Grant Program of the Houston Arts Alliance and serve a term of two years, April 2015 through April 2017.
Submissions are welcome from individual poets or from persons nominating a poet for the position. The HPL guidelines and term requirements can be found at www.houstonlibrary.org/learn-explore/houston-poet-laureate.
Completed application packets should be submitted either as Microsoft Word or PDF documents via e-mail to jennifer.schwartz@houstontx.gov by Friday, March 13, 2015 by 5 PM (CST). (Note: All nominations submitted must be complete and fulfill all requirements. Incomplete nominations will not be considered.)
Finalists will be interviewed in person by the committee in late March and early April. The names of the finalists will be forwarded to Mayor Parker and Dr. Lawson for their approval and final selection. The Poet Laureate will be announced in April 2015 to coincide with National Poetry Month.
The HPLP is provided in partnership between the City of Houston, HPL, the Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs, and the Houston Arts Alliance (HAA).
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Sandra Fernandez is a professional communicator, tech enthusiast, book lover, and blogger. You can find her main blog at SandraSays.com and more of her writing at HispanicHouston.com.