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San Antonio's Laurie Ann Guerrero was appointed as the city's Poet Laureate in 2014. Next year, she will serve as Texas State Poet Laureate.
The city is taking nominations through 4 p.m. January 5 for the honorary position's 2016-2018 term.
Laurie Ann Guerrero, the current Poet Laureate, was picked in 2014. Next year, she will be the Texas State Poet Laureate.
“Serving as Poet Laureate in my hometown of San Antonio has been a great honor. I have truly enjoyed sharing my passion for poetry as activism and as a means to share experience, not only locally, but with students, writers and lovers of poetry around the country," Guerrero says in a press release. "Many of the elders in my family did not have access to education, so to be chosen for such an honor means so much to me personally; it is something I will always hold dear to my heart."
The Poet Laureate promotes literary arts and literacy in San Antonio while fostering a love for the reading and writing of poetry. It's a two-year term, and whoever is selected will receive an honorarium of $3,500 per year. The Poet Laureate participates in one public event, like a reading or performance, each year, and is expected to "generate interest in the literary arts and pursue the preservation of the art of poetry."
San Antonio appointed its first Poet Laureate in 2012.
“The appointment of a San Antonio Poet Laureate has become a recent tradition in our city and one that shows the community’s support and appreciation of the literary arts,” Mayor Ivy R. Taylor says in a press release. “More importantly, our Poet Laureate has helped to highlight the importance of literacy and the beauty of poetry as an art form.”
