Arlington County is looking for a new poet.
Applications for the county’s fourth poet laureate — responsible for writing original poems to be presented at public readings and displayed on ART buses — are due by June 2.
Applicants must be Arlington residents at least 18 years old with “a track record of experience publishing and/or presenting original poetry within poetry journals, magazines, websites and/or programs.”
“Our new Poet Laureate will work with our community to awaken the poet in all of us,” Arlington Cultural Affairs Director Michelle Isabelle-Stark said in a press release.
A panel of judges including county staff, literary professionals and D.C.-area poets will select the poet laureate, who receives an honorarium of $1,500 per year for two years.
The poet must write at least two poems each year “around a theme of their choice that supports the priorities of the Arlington County Board, by mutual agreement with Cultural Affairs Staff.” They also serve as a juror for the annual Moving Words Poetry competition and facilitate programs like workshops, readings and events with students.
Arlington launched its poet laureate program in 2016.
The county’s current appointee is Courtney LeBlanc, a Virginia Center for the Creative Arts fellow and the author of several book-length collections. Her latest work, “Her Dark Everything,” came out this month.
The next poet laureate will begin their two-year term at the start of the next fiscal year on July 1.
