Minnesota

State Poet Laureate

In 2007, Minnesota established a state poet laureate position, which is currently held by Gwen Nell Westerman, the author of Follow the Blackbirds (Michigan State University Press, 2013), a poetry collection written in Dakota and English.

City and County Poets Laureate

Duluth

In 2018, Gary Boelhower was appointed as the poet laureate of Duluth, Minnesota. Boelhower will serve a two-year term.

St. Paul

In 2006, Carol Connolly was named poet laureate of St. Paul, Minnesota. Connolly will serve a twelve-year term.

Rochester

In 2023, Jean Prokott was appointed poet laureate of Rochester. He will serve a four-year term.

Minneapolis

In 2023, Heid E. Erdich was appointed the inaugural poet laureate of Minneapolis through 2024.

Type	Title	State
Poetry-Friendly Bookstore	Beagle and Wolf Bindery and Books	Minnesota

An Octave Above Thunder

                                       ... reverberation
                              Of thunder of spring over distant mountains
                              He who was living is now dead
                              We who were living are now dying
                              With a little patience.

                                            --T. S.

Carol Muske-Dukes

1997

The Clerk’s Tale

I am thirty-three and working in an expensive clothier, 
selling suits to men I call “Sir.”
These men are muscled, groomed and cropped—
with wives and families that grow exponentially.
Mostly I talk of rep ties and bow ties,
of full-Windsor knots and half-Windsor knots,
of tattersall, French cuff, and English spread collars,
of foulards, neats, and internationals,
of pincord, houndstooth, nailhead, and sharkskin.
I often wear a blue pin-striped suit.
My hair recedes and is going gray at the temples.
On my cheeks there are a few pimples.
For my terrible eyesight, horn-rimmed spectacles.
O

Spencer Reece

2004

Record

Late night July, Minnesota,
John asleep on the glassed-in porch,
Bob Dylan quiet on a cassette


you made from an album
I got rid of soon after
you died.  Years later,


I regret giving up
your two boxes of vinyl,
which I loved.  Surely


they were too awkward,
too easily broken
for people who loved music


the way we did.  But tonight
I’m in the mood for ghosts,
for sounds we hated: pop,


scratch, hiss, the occasional
skip.

Katrina Vandenberg

2005

Poetry Near You

Minnesota

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John Berryman

Connie Wanek

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An Octave Above Thunder

The Clerk’s Tale

Record

Poetry Near You

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Minnesota

Recent & Featured Listings

John Berryman

Connie Wanek

Betsy Brown

Related Poems

An Octave Above Thunder

The Clerk’s Tale

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