the arts

Tacoma Poet Laureate

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2011-13 Tacoma Poet Laureate

Josie Emmons Turner
The Tacoma Arts Commission announces the selection of Josie Emmons Turner as the 2011-2013 Poet Laureate for the City of Tacoma. 

Over the next two years, Emmons Turner will participate actively in the local community by providing at least four free poetry related workshops, reading at public events, participating in Art at Work: Tacoma Arts Month each November, and helping produce the 2013 Tacoma Poet Laureate ceremony to announce the next Poet Laureate.

Emmons Turner’s poetry has been published in 20/20 Tacoma in Images and Verse, 2010 Floating Bridge Review Number 3, In Tahoma’s Shadow, California Quarterly, and Backstreet Review. She received her M.F.A. through the Rainier Writers Workshop at Pacific Lutheran University and her B.A. from Seattle University. She has been a creative writing educator for five years, currently with Clover Park High School.

If you are interested in working with Emmons Turner or having her read for your school, organization or event, please contact her at:
Josie.turner.poet@gmail.com
253.678.6117

Upcoming Workshops and Events:

Teen Poetry Workshop
When: May 12, 11 am - 1 pm
Where: Museum of Glass, 1801 Dock Street
Free!
Tacoma Poet Laureate, Josie Emmons Turner leads this workshop designed to help teenagers expand their knowledge of  poetry with creative exercises. Register with Elisabeth Emerson at 253.284.4713 or by emailing eemerson@museumofglass.org.

Past Workshops and Events:

Place and Persona
When: Saturday, July 16,  9 am – 1 pm
Where: Fort Nisqually Museum, Great Room

An Evening with Quincy Troupe
When: Saturday, October 8, 7 - 9:30 pm
Where: Museum of Glass, 1801 Dock Street 

Distinguished Writers Series
When: Friday, October 14, 7 pm
Where: King's Bookstore, 218 St. Helens

Poetry Reading at Fort Nisqually
When: October 15, 2 pm
Where:  Fort Nisqually Museum, Great Room
Click here to watch video of reading.

Poet and Artist Reception
When: Thursday, November 3, 5 - 7 pm
Where: Proctor Art Gallery, 3811 N. 26th St.

Beyond the Line: Poetry in Response to Visual Art
When: Saturday, November 19, 9 - 10:30 am
Where: University of Puget Sound

Hip-Heart: A Poetry Event
When: Sunday, November 27, 2 pm
Where: King's Bookstore, 218 St. Helens

National Poetry Month Reading with Washington State Poet Laureate
When: April 15, 3 pm
Where: Museum of Glass, 1801 Dock Street

Celebrate Your Favorite Poem
When: April 22, 1 - 2 pm
Where: Museum of Glass, 1801 Dock Street

National Poem in Your Pocket Day Give Away
When: April 26, 5 pm
Where: Union Station Link Light Rail Stop at S. 19th and Pacific Ave.

 

Tacoma Poet Laureate Overview

The Tacoma Poet Laureate position was founded in 2008 by Urban Grace Church as a way of focusing attention on Tacoma’s literary talent by organizing and hosting public readings and workshops in local schools and community events.

Starting in 2011, the Poet Laureate position is being administered through the City of Tacoma's Arts Program. The transition of the program from Urban Grace Church to the Arts Program is seen as a positive step that will help expand exposure of the program enabling more connections with the Poet Laureate, the City and arts community.  The foundation of the Poet Laureate program is strong and will remain very much the same however it will become more secular in nature and terms will be for two years instead of one.

“It was our intent at Urban Grace to use the Urban Grace Soul of the City Poet Laureate position as a way of increasing the exposure of poets and the poetry community in Tacoma and we feel we've done that. By transitioning the program to the Tacoma Arts Commission and partnering with them, we feel we are creating the kind of capacity and relationships to grow and sustain the program in the years to come,” said Tad Monroe, senior pastor at Urban Grace Church.

Urban Grace Church is recognized as a founding partner of the program and will remain involved by providing transitional oversight, a free location for performances and workshops and participating in support roles as requested. 

Past Tacoma Poet Laureates

2010-11 - Tammy Robacker
2009-10 - Antonio Edwards, Jr.
 2008-09 - William Kupinse

Tacoma Poet Laureate in the News

Tacoma's Top Poet Digs In
 - City Arts, April 27, 2011
Josie's Poesy
 - Weekly Volcano, April 20, 2011
New poet laureate Josie Turner has big plans
 - Tacoma Weekly, April 7, 2011
Josie Emmons Turner is the new Tacoma Poet Laureate
 - Tacoma News Tribune, March 28, 2011
Lessons from Tacoma's poet laureate
 - Tacoma News Tribune, May 30, 2010

Tacoma Poet Laureate Application

The application deadline for 2011-13 Tacoma Poet Laureate position has passed. Applications for 2013-15 Poet Laureate position will be available in January 2013. 

 

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