Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer launched the city’s search for its next Poet Laureate Monday.
In partnership with United Arts of Central Florida, the city will appoint its third Poet Laureate, responsible for promoting poetry and inspiring future poets, artists and literary lovers. The selected position holder will play a significant role in Orlando’s cultural landscape, and will present original poetry at local events, community gatherings and youth-centered spaces, according to the city.
The new Poet Laureate will be announced in October, helping to mark National Arts and Humanities Month.
They will replace the city’s second Poet Laureate Shawn Welcome, a professor at Valencia College, who was appointed in 2021. Welcome is a professor at Valencia College and the voice of the widely applauded Reason Why spoken word ode to the City Beautiful.
The Poet Laureate Search Committee — a group of poets and literary figures representing University of Central Florida, Rollins College, Valencia College, Seminole State College and Burrow Press — will work with United Arts of Central Florida and Mayor Dyer’s office to facilitate the selection process. Welcome will have an ex-officio non-voting say.
Candidates interested in throwing in their names will be evaluated based on artistic merit, quality of literary work samples, as well as experience and background. The committee expects candidates to “demonstrate a record of achievement in the art of poetry, including significant publications and recognition or awards.”
Applicants are required to be residents of Central Florida and at least 21 years old. The full list of eligibility requirements can be found online, and the committee’s deliberations will kick off in July.
Applications are accepted online now through June 30, 2025.
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This article appears in Apr 23-29, 2025.
