Colorado’s Poet Laureate advocates for poetry, literacy, and literature by participating in readings and other events at the state capitol, schools, libraries, and literary festivals. The governor chooses the Poet Laureate to serve a four-year term. Selection criteria are artistic excellence and a history of community service that elevates poetry.
This program is a partnership between the Colorado Creative Industries and Colorado Humanities. Nominations for the next Colorado Poet Laureate are now open through February 1, 2023. Chosen by the Governor, the Colorado Poet Laureate will serve a four-year term beginning in July 2023. Read the press release to learn more.
Nominations are now open. Learn more and submit a nomination here.
Overview
Type: Award
For: Creatives and artists
Lifecycle: Four years
OEDIT division: Colorado Creative Industries
Current Laureate
Bobby LeFebre
LeFebre is an award-winning writer, performer, and cultural and social worker with indigenous roots in the San Luis Valley that predate statehood. A performance artist of the highest order, he says he is fusing a non-traditional multi-hyphenated professional identity to imagine new realities, empower communities, advance arts and culture, and serve as an agent of provocation and social transformation, equity, and change.
He is also an Emmy-nominated, SAG-eligible talent with a national performance reputation. LeFebre serves as a Commissioner for the Denver Commission on Cultural Affairs, a fellow of the Intercultural Leadership Institute, and an advisory board member of the Latino Cultural Arts Center and many other cultural organizations, including the Clyfford Still Museum and La Raza.
As a co-founder of Cafe Cultura, he also produces Interfest, an arts and ideas festival for liberationists to radically engage, boldly express and joyously unify as a community.
Program Manager
