The Upper Peninsula Poet Laureate Foundation is a 501(c)(3) that promotes poetry and the spoken word through public readings, workshops, virtual events and digital platforms. The foundation celebrates the U.P. and its cultural heritage through poems in online or print publications and champions past and present U.P. poets. The Upper Peninsula Poet Laureate serves a two-year term, which may be renewed one time. The laureate represents all 15 counties of the Upper Peninsula.
Foundation projects and the selection of the U.P. Poet Laureate are based on a dedication to poetry, not on the basis of race, national or ethnic origin, gender identity, marital status, disability, or age.
It’s the combination of the intimate and the public that I find so exciting about being poet laureate.
Rita Dove
2025- 26 OFFICERS
President:
Marty Achatz
Vice President:
Lisa Fosmo
Treasurer:
The Upper Peninsula Poet Laureate will promote poetry and the spoken word. The laureate will encourage appreciation of the art form and creative expression by a wide-range of residents of the region through public readings, workshops, virtual events, and digital platforms. The laureate will celebrate the U.P. and its cultural heritage through poems in online or print publications and champion past and present U.P. poets. The Upper Peninsula Poet Laureate serves a two-year term, which may be renewed one time.
The selection process
The poet laureate application is open to any applicant. For poets whose body of work is in the oral tradition, videos and audio samples can be provided with the application. Emphasis is placed on the quality of the work, familiarity with the U.P., and speaking skills. In addition, an outreach project as a potential laureate is important.
The Upper Peninsula Poet Laureate Foundation embraces the diversity of human experience and identity. All applications are welcome, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, cultural heritage, socio-economic background, or physical ability.
Please reach out to us if you have any questions or want to be involved with the Foundation and the selection process.