Kentucky’s Poets Laureate
The Kentucky Poet Laureate position was established in 1926 by an act of the Kentucky General Assembly. Poet Laureates were appointed to lifetime terms at first, holding the position simultaneously at times. Since 1990, the position has been a two-year gubernatorial appointment. The new Kentucky Poet Laureate is usually inducted on April 24 of odd-numbered years in conjunction with Kentucky Writers’ Day celebrations. Kentucky Writers’ Day is celebrated annually on April 24 to commemorate the birthday of Kentuckian Robert Penn Warren, the first Poet Laureate of the United States
Frank X Walker is the 26th Kentucky Poet Laureate. While promoting the literary arts in the state, his agenda includes pushing for broader acceptance of who Kentucky writers are. He wants Kentuckians to diversify the list and acknowledge names like William Wells Brown: the first African American to write a novel in the United States, along with author of Harlem Renaissance Effie Waller Smith, playwright George Wolf, Gayl Jones, Crystal Wilkinson, Marvin Gaye, and bell hooks. “These are very established, well-known names I connect to Kentucky,” says Walker.
Past Kentucky Poets Laureate
1926 J. T. “Cotton” Noe
1928 Edward G. Hill*
1942 Louise Phillips
1954 Edwin Carlisle Litsey
1954 Jesse Hilton Stuart
1956 Lowell Allen Williams
1974 Lillie D. Chaffin (Associate Poet Laureate)
1976 Senator Tom Mobley
1978 Agnes O’Rear
1984 Soc Clay
1984 Lee Pennington
1984 Paul Salyers
1986 Dale Faughn
1986 Jim Wayne Miller
1986 Henry E. Pilkenton
1990 James H. Patton, Jr.
1995-1996 James Still*
1997-1998 Joy Bale Boone*
1999-2000 Richard Taylor*
2001-2002 James Baker Hall*
2003-2004 Joe Survant*
2005-2006 Sena Jeter Naslund*
2007-2008 Jane Gentry*
2009-2010 Gurney Norman*
2011-2012 Maureen Morehead*
*Gubernatorial appointment
Source: Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives and the Kentucky Arts Council.
Read the Kentucky Living February 2014 feature that goes along with this web exclusive, Frank Out Loud.
