![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Governor_Dawn-Potter-e1775246078809.jpg\")
\t\t\tGov. Janet Mills, left, named Dawn Potter, right, as Maine’s next poet laureate on Friday. (Photo courtesy of Maine Arts Commission) <\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGov. Janet Mills, left, named Dawn Potter, right, as Maine’s next poet laureate on Friday. (Photo courtesy of Maine Arts Commission) <\/p>\n
Dawn Potter, a poet and teacher from Portland, was named Maine\u2019s seventh poet laureate on Friday. <\/p>\n
Potter was announced as the next state poet laureate at the State House in Augusta, during an event marking National Poetry Month. She\u2019ll replace the current laureate, Julia Bouwsma, of New Portland, who works as a library director in Kingfield.<\/p>\n
Potter directs poetry and teaching programs at Monson Arts, near Moosehead Lake, and offers online poetry classes through The Poetry Kitchen. She\u2019s been the author or editor of ten books of prose and poetry and was a finalist for the National Poetry Series. She\u2019ll assume the duties of poet laureate July 1.<\/p>\n
In announcing the appointment Friday, Gov. Janet Mills said that Potter\u2019s experience as a poet and educator makes \u201cher well-prepared to connect Maine people of all ages with this timeless art form.\u201d Potter, appearing at the event with Bouwsma, said she hoped to continue the tradition of the six people who were Maine\u2019s poets laureate before her.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u201cAll six of my predecessors have been a part of my education in poetry,\u201d Potter said in a release announcing her appointment. \u201cAll have shown me what it means to be an ambassador for the art, and I hope I can carry their example forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
The State Poet Laureate was created in 1995 as an honorary position to promote the appreciation of poetry throughout the state and advocate for poetry, literacy and literature. Finalists for the position are recommended to the governor by the Maine Arts Commission, and each is appointed for a five-year term.<\/p>\n
Purchase this image<\/a><\/p>\n The criteria for the position requires that the candidate lives in Maine and has published \u201cdistinguished poetry.\u201d The laureate travels across the state for readings and events and Bouwsma set a personal goal to visit all 16 counties during her term. The poet laureate gets a stipend of $5,000 a year from the Maine Arts Commission.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/w2pcms.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2022\/02\/28970609_20220216_Poet_06.jpg\")
<\/a>Current Poet Laureate Julia Bouwsma at Webster Library in Kingfield in 2022. (Brianna Soukup\/Staff Photographer)<\/p>\n