Maine State Poet Laureate
The Maine State Poet Laureate is an honorary position appointed by the governor from a list of candidates recommended by the Maine Arts Commission. The Poet Laureate serves as an advocate for poetry and literary arts across the state.
Dawn Potter is Maine’s seventh Poet Laureate, serving a term from 2026 to 2031.
Current Poet Laureate
Dawn Potter | Portland, Maine
Dawn Potter
2026 - 2031
Related links
Dawn Potter is a poet, essayist, teacher, editor, gardener, cook, and cat wrangler. She is Maine’s seventh Poet Laureate, serving from 2026 to 2031, and is currently based in Portland after homesteading for more than two decades in the woods of Somerset County. She is married to photographer and carpenter Thomas Birtwistle, and they have two sons, both of whom also work in the arts.
Dawn has published seven collections of poetry, two books of nonfiction, a teaching text, and an edited volume of writings about poetry. Her memoir, Tracing Paradise: Two Years in Harmony with John Milton, won a Maine Literary Award in Nonfiction, and she has received grants and fellowships from the Elizabeth George Foundation, the Writer’s Center, and the Maine Arts Commission. Her poems and essays have appeared in the Beloit Poetry Journal, the Sewanee Review, the Threepenny Review, and elsewhere. Dawn has been a visiting writer at the Solstice MFA Program, Smith College, Bates College, and many other institutions. When not teaching, she works as a freelance editor for literary and academic presses.
In addition to her personal projects, Dawn is involved in a number of collaborations with other artists. These include writing, designing, and performing the multidisciplinary Monson Maine, USA with the poet Teresa Carson, the poet and performance artist Gretchen Berg, and the dancer Gwyneth Jones. With the poets Jeanne Marie Beaumont and Teresa Carson, she publishes conversations and communal poetry experiments in their Substack journal Poetry Lab Notes. She also writes weekly with the May Street Writers, a group of Portland-area poets who generate new drafts through interactive prompts and share this supportive model in their teaching and public outreach.
Dawn Potter speaking at a Maine Arts Commission event.
Writing, Learning, and Community
For more than a decade, Dawn led poetry and teaching programs at the Frost Place in Franconia, New Hampshire. Currently, she directs two poetry-centered programs at Monson Arts, Maine’s renowned residency center located in rural Piscataquis County.
- The high school writing program meets all day every other week for an entire school year and offers a cohort of talented central Maine students the opportunity to participate in an intense studio experience on the Monson Arts campus. The goal is to guide students into closer knowledge of what it means to make art the center of a life, helping them hone their craft, build bonds with other young artists from around the region, and become more confident about their future as makers.
- The Conference on Poetry and Learning, also held on the Monson Arts campus, is an annual weeklong gathering of classroom teachers, arts educators, and poets that focuses on collaboration, cross-disciplinary experimentation, and collegial support.
Dawn also works with poets from around the United States and Canada through her online platform, the Poetry Kitchen, offering affordable Zoom-based sessions on generating and revising poems and poetry collections. She welcomes writers at all stages of development and strives to create a noncompetitive, encouraging, yet rigorous haven for conversation and exploration.
As Maine Poet Laureate, Dawn hopes to expand her current work with young people and educators into other areas of the state. She is also eager to focus on the development of community writing groups, offering Zoom and in-person workshops in which she shares prompts, tips, and examples that help people build and sustain their own local creative gatherings.
Upcoming Poet Laureate Events
Premiere of Monson, Maine USA
Dates: July 7, July 8, and July 9
Time: All performances begin at 5 p.m.
Location: Tenney House, Monson Arts, Monson, Maine
Written, choreographed, and performed by Gretchen Berg, Teresa Carson, Gwyneth Jones, and Dawn Potter. This is a three-part event, with part 1 on July 7, part 2 on July 8, and part 3 on July 9.
Reading, Ruth Moore Days
Date: July 21
Location: Bass Harbor Library, Bernard, Maine
About the Maine Poet Laureate Program
Maine’s Poet Laureate position is an appointment designed to promote appreciation of poetry throughout the state, honor published distinguished poetry, and advocate for poetry, literacy, and literature by participating in readings, Poetry Out Loud, and other events at schools, libraries, literary festivals, and the State Capitol.
The Maine State Poet Laureate is an honorary position established on June 2, 1995 through 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.
Program at a Glance
- The Poet Laureate must reside in Maine and have published distinguished poetry.
- The governor selects the Poet Laureate from candidates recommended by the Maine Arts Commission.
- The 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 may be reappointed after a break in service.
A full history of the poets who have served as Maine State Poet Laureate is available on the Poet Laureate History page.
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 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 Poet Laureate initiatives have been supported by generous contributions from the Betterment Fund, Maine Arts Commission, Academy of American Poets, Maine Humanities Council, and 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 $5,000, with dedicated support from the Maine Arts Commission.
For More Information
For further information about the Maine Poet Laureate program, please contact:
Additional Resources for Poets
Write ME: An Epistolary Poetry Project
With support from the Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance, the Maine Arts Commission, The Telling Room, public libraries, and organizations around Maine, and funding from the Academy of American Poets and the Mellon Foundation, Julia Bouwsma created a Maine-wide epistolary poetry project.
The project introduced the form through a series of 20+ free public workshops across the state during the fall and early winter of 2024, then paired participating individuals as poetry pen pals to communicate with one another over a period of months. Simply put, the project paired people in different parts of Maine to exchange letter poems. The project was 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 on Maine Public
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 & Publishers Alliance. Special thanks to Robert M. Chute and family, along with Phil Steele and Francesca Galluccio-Steele, for making Poems from Here possible.