Current Poet Laureate (2021-2026):
Julia Bouwsma lives off-the-grid in the mountains of western Maine where she works as a poet, homesteader, editor, teacher, and small-town librarian. She is Maine’s sixth Poet Laureate, currently serving a term from 2021 to 2026, and is the author of three poetry collections: the forthcoming Death Fluorescence (Sundress Publications, June 2025), Midden (Fordham University Press, 2018), and Work by Bloodlight (Cider Press Review, 2017). Honors include a 2024 Poet Laureate Fellowship from the Academy of American Poets and two Maine Literary Awards. Her work can be found in various publications including Ecotone, Green Mountains Review, Kenyon Review, Plume, and Poetry Daily. Bouwsma has taught in the Creative Writing department at the University of Maine at Farmington, serves on the Community Advisory Board for the Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance, and works as the Library Director for Webster Library in Kingfield, ME.
During Julia’s tenure as Poet Laureate she launched the “Write ME: An Epistolary Poetry Project” in collaboration with Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance and the support of the Maine Arts Commission. The pilot began in 2023, serving 5 counties with poetry workshops and 150+ poetry pen pals. The Write ME project expanded with Julia’s Poet Laureate Fellowship from the Academy of American Poets in 2024 to a statewide project with a series of 20+ free public workshops, spanning all 16 counties during the fall and early winter of 2024, with 230+ poetry pen pals writing to each other over the winter of 2024/2025. A large celebration is planned for the Write ME project in May of 2025. For further information on events that the Poet Laureate will be in attendance, please see here: “Out and About with the Poet Laureate”
About the Maine Poet Laureate program
Maine’s Poet Laureate position is an appointment designed to promote appreciation of poetry throughout the state, to honor published distinguished poetry, and to advocate for poetry, literacy, and literature by participating in readings, Poetry Out Loud and other events at schools, libraries, literary festivals and the State Capital.
The Maine State Poet Laureate is an honorary position established on June 2, 1995 (Maine Public Law 1995, Chapter 264) and codified in Title 27, Chapter 15, Subchapter 2 of the Maine Revised Statutes. The law requires that the Poet Laureate reside in Maine and have published “distinguished poetry.” The nominee is selected by the governor from a list of candidates recommended by the Maine Arts Commission through an advisory selection committee. The Maine State Poet Laureate is appointed for a five-year term and may be reappointed for a second term. Poet Laureates may serve no more than two consecutive terms, but they may be reappointed after a break in service.
You can find a full history of the people who have served as Maine State Poet Laureate here.
With the inauguration of Wesley McNair as Maine State Poet Laureate on March 11, 2011, the Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance created the state’s first-ever Office of the Maine Poet Laureate to provide support, promotion, and funding for the poet laureate’s many initiatives. Since that time, the Office of the Maine Poet Laureate and the poet laureate’s initiatives have been supported by generous contributions from the Betterment Fund, Maine Arts Commission, Academy of American Poets, Maine Humanities Council, & The Quimby Family Foundation.
If you are interested in donating to the ongoing initiatives of the Maine Poet Laureate, please contact Gibson Fay-LeBlanc at gro.sretirweniam@rotcerid.
As of 2024, the Poet Laureate received a yearly honorarium of $5000, with dedicated support from the Maine Arts Commission.
Please check back in the summer of 2025 for program updates and instructions on how to apply for the 2026-2030 appointment to become the next Maine State Poet Laureate.
For further information about the Poet Laureate program contact:
PROGRAM DIRECTOR
vog.eniam@zsaruk.anitsirhk
Additional Resources for Poets
With support from the MWPA, the Maine Arts Commission, The Telling Room, and many public libraries and organizations around Maine, and funding from the Academy of American Poets and the Mellon Foundation, Julia Bouwsma has created a Maine-wide epistolary poetry project that 1) introduces the form through a series of 20+ free public workshops across the state during the fall and early winter of 2024 and then 2) pairs up participating individuals as “poetry pen pals” to communicate with one another over a period of months. Simply put, this project will pair together people in different parts of Maine to exchange letter poems. This project is open to anyone who lives in Maine (or is connected to the state) and is ages 18 and up, with additional youth workshops happening through The Telling Room, the Monson Arts High School Program, and assorted Maine high school teachers .
Poems from Here is designed to create a momentary community of speakers and listeners, where vibrant language slows time and helps us better pay attention to our world. The series airs on Maine Public Radio and Maine Public Classical.
Poems from Here is presented in collaboration with the Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance. Special thanks to Robert M. Chute and family along with Phil Steele and Francesca Galluccio-Steele for making Poems from Here possible.