Programs : Poet Laureate
Meet the Washington State Poet Laureate
Derek Sheffield is the 2025-2027 Washington State Poet Laureate. Hailing from the Wenatchee Valley, Sheffield is the author of Not for Luck, selected for Wheelbarrow Books Poetry Prize, and Through the Second Skin, runner-up for the Emily Dickinson First Book Award. He is the co-editor of Cascadia Field Guide: Art, Ecology, Poetry, which won a 2024 Washington State Book Award.
The first in his family to attend college, Sheffield is now on the English faculty at Wenatchee Valley College and is the poetry editor of Terrain.org. When he’s not crafting poems, Derek is teaching his beloved Northwest Nature Writing class, where he has shared his passion for the outdoors with students for the past 20 years.
The Poet Laureate program is sponsored by Humanities Washington and The Washington State Arts Commission/ArtsWA, with the support of Governor Bob Ferguson.
Follow the poet laureate on Facebook and Instagram.
Organizations: Bring the poet laureate to your community! Derek is available for readings, school visits, and more. Apply to bring him to an in-person event here, and apply to host him for an online event here.
“Making poems for me has come to be about living more deeply and widely.”
– Derek Sheffield
Upcoming Poet Laureate Events
About the Poet Laureate program
The Washington State Poet Laureate builds awareness and appreciation of poetry through readings, events, and projects across the state. Each laureate serves a two-year term.
Former poets laureate Tod Marshall, Claudia Castro Luna, Elizabeth Austen, and Kathleen Flenniken at the Seattle Public Library. Credit: Matt Owens.
The poet laureate program is funded and run by Humanities Washington and ArtsWA, with the support of Gov. Bob Ferguson. Poets can either self-nominate or be nominated by a third party every through an application process.
Past poets laureate are Arianne True (2023-2025), Rena Priest (2021-2023), Claudia Castro Luna (2018-2021), Tod Marshall (2016-2018), Elizabeth Austen (2014-2016), Kathleen Flenniken (2012-2014), and Sam Green (2007-2009).
Support
The Poet Laureate program is run in partnership with ArtsWA
Additional support for the Poet Laureate program provided by the Amazon Literary Partnership Poetry Fund and the Academy of American Poets.