The State Poet of New York is the poet laureate for the U.S. state of New York. The position of New York State Poet was established by a special mandate of the New York State Legislature on August 1, 1985. In 1988, New York also established a position for other genres of writing entitled New York State Author. In 2016, Governor Cuomo also named Joseph Tusiani poet laureate emeritus.[1]
List of poets laureate
[edit]- Stanley Kunitz (1987–1989)[2]
- Robert Creeley (1989–1991)[2]
- Audre Lorde (1991–1993)[2]
- Richard Howard (1993–1995)[2]
- Jane Cooper (1995–1997)[2]
- Sharon Olds (1998–2000)[2]
- John Ashbery (2001–2003)[2]
- Billy Collins (2004–2006)[2]
- Jean Valentine (2008–2010)[2]
- Marie Howe (2012–2014)[2]
- Yusef Komunyakaa (2015–2017)[2]
- Alicia Ostriker (2018–2021)[2]
- Willie Perdomo (2021–2023)[2]
- Patricia Spears Jones (2023–2025)[2]
- Kimiko Hahn (2025–present)[3]
List of state authors
[edit]- Grace Paley (1986–1988)[2]
- E. L. Doctorow (1989–1991)[2]
- Norman Mailer (1991–1993)[2]
- William Gaddis (1993–1995)[2]
- Peter Matthiessen (1995–1997)[2]
- James Salter (1998–2000)[2]
- Kurt Vonnegut (2001–2003)[2]
- Russell Banks (2004–2008)[2]
- Mary Gordon (2008–2010)[2]
- Alison Lurie (2012–2014)[2]
- Edmund White (2014–2016)[2]
- Colson Whitehead (2018–2021)[2]
- Ayad Akhtar (2021–2023)[2]
- Jacqueline Woodson (2023–2025)[2]
- Min Jin Lee (2025–present)[4]
- References
- ^ "Governor Cuomo Announces New York's Biennial State Author & Poet". New York State. January 8, 2016. Archived from the original on April 2, 2017. Retrieved August 4, 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab "NYS Writers Institute > State Author and State Poet". The Library of Congress. Retrieved July 30, 2022.
- ^ Institute, NYS Writers (June 18, 2025). "NYS Writers Institute announces New York State Author and New York State Poet". NYSWritersInstitute. Retrieved June 27, 2025.
- ^ Institute, NYS Writers (June 18, 2025). "NYS Writers Institute announces New York State Author and New York State Poet". NYSWritersInstitute. Retrieved June 27, 2025.