Montana

State Poet Laureate

In 2005, Montana established a state poet laureate position, which is currently held by Chris La Tray, author of several collections of poetry including Becoming Little Shell (Milkweed Editions, 2024). Since 2005, Montana has had eleven poets laureate.

Type	Title	State
Festival	Montana Book Festival	Montana
Poetry-Friendly Bookstore	Barjon’s Books	Montana
Reading Series	University of Montana Reading Series	Montana
Poetry-Friendly Bookstore	Books & Books	Montana
Literary Organization	Indian Reading Series	Montana
Poetry-Friendly Bookstore	Chapter One Book Store	Montana
Literary Organization	Montana Arts	Montana
Poetry-Friendly Bookstore	Fact & Fiction Books	Montana
Literary Organization	Montana Arts Council	Montana
Poetry-Friendly Bookstore	Montana Book & Toy Company	Montana

And to think I had just paid a cousin twenty dollars to shovel the walk.
He and two of his buddies, still smelling of an all-nighter,
arrived at 7 am to begin their work.
When I left them a while later I noticed their ungloved hands
and winter made me feel selfish and unsure.
This ground seems unsure of itself
		    for its own reasons.
Real spring is still distant
and no one is trying to make themselves believe
this might last, this last unreasonable half hour.
It is six-thirty in eastern Montana and the cold
	has finally given way.
The time is important not because this has been a lon

M. L. Smoker

2005

The dirt road is frozen.

Melissa Kwasny

2009

When I received the call I was in a store in Missoula, Montana. A store stocked with sparkling ephemera: glass fauna, tiny, belfry bulbs, winter white birch and stump lamps brandishing light cones, little shelves and branches hung drops of ice and round silver baubles. I loved the store: it was cavernous, dark with wood and burlap. A ruddy brick loft with lithographs and monographs on birds or bracelets. The storeowner, Fran, was away that day otherwise I would have stayed in there a little longer. She was a comforting friend— she had impeccable taste, which manifested -->

Prageeta Sharma

2010

Poetry Near You

Montana

Recent & Featured Listings

M. L. Smoker

Melissa Kwasny

Richard Hugo

Poetry Near You

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Montana

Recent & Featured Listings

M. L. Smoker

Melissa Kwasny

Richard Hugo

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