City of Oak Ridge accepting nominations for poet laureate

Posted at 1:52 pm December 17, 2021
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

The Oak Ridge Public Library is supporting an initiative to select and name a poet laureate for the City of Oak Ridge.

The Oak Ridge Poet Laureate Committee is seeking a poet of excellence, who has lived in Oak Ridge for at least one year and is inspired to represent the city and all it strives to be, a press release said.

“Anyone can nominate someone they believe is best fit for the role and self-nominations are accepted as long as they can continue to live in the city throughout the appointment,” the press release said. “They must have significant publication history including books (excluding self-published and vanity presses), and in a variety of journals, and/or media. They must have received recognition in the field and have demonstrated literary excellence.”

The poet has to have demonstrated a previous commitment to promoting an awareness of poetry and must be 18 years of age or older. Nominations can be submitted online at ORPL.org between until January 1.

The nominee will be presented to the Oak Ridge City Council for consideration in February 2022. For more information, visit ORPL.org or follow the library on Facebook and Twitter at OakRidgePubLib.

The Oak Ridge City Council heard about the proposal to establish a poet laureate during a non-voting work session November 16, and the process was outlined in an email to City Council from Pat Hope, chair of the Oak Ridge Poet Laureate Committee.

More information will be added as it becomes available.

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