Jennifer Polson Peterson

Jennifer Polson Peterson was born on March 4, 1984, in Greenville, South Carolina. She holds an MFA from Albertus Magnus College and a PhD from the University of Southern Mississippi, where she now serves as an assistant teaching professor of English. 

Polson Peterson is the author of the poetry collection Degenerate Era of an Expanding Universe (Belle Point Press, 2026) and the chapbook Must Resemble Leisure (Seven Kitchens Press, 2022). In 2024, she was appointed the first poet laureate of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, serving through 2026.