RALEIGH (AP) — It’s not too late to nominate your favorite poet to serve as North Carolina’s poet laureate.
The N.C. Arts Council is accepting nominations through today. The poet laureate receives a $15,000 annual stipend and support from Arts Council staff for programs. Duties typically include public activities with schools, community groups and the media, along with contact with writers and readers by mail, email and a website.
Selection criteria include: someone with deep connections to the cultural life of North Carolina; literary excellence; and a statewide, national or international reputation. The Legislature created the post in 1935. It’s used to promote North Carolina writers and the power of poetry and the written word.
The ongoing poet laureate is Cathy Smith Bowers, a Tryon resident who teaches at Queens University in Charlotte.