BEND, OR -- The state's new Poet Laureate is a woman well-known in Central Oregon literary circles, who looks forward to sharing her voice west of the Cascades.

Governor Tina Kotek named Ellen Waterston Oregon's eleventh Poet Laureate. "It is funded by the Oregon Cultural Trust and it is administered by Oregon Humanities," says Waterston, "All of which underscores this wonderful web of support of the arts in the state of Oregon, and particularly the literary arts." She'll spend the next two years attending readings and events across the state, and spreading the power of the written word, "Meet with high school students and community members and engage them in poetry. It's not so much talking at them, as really working with them."

Nearly all of Oregon's 10 other Poet Laureates are from the Willamette Valley or coast. "We have an amazing number of amazing poets in Oregon, so I'm astounded and surprised and honored and also feel like, 'okay, I've got to earn this.'" Waterston says, "And, I think that it's an opportunity for the western side of the state to hear some of the eastern voices, some of the rural voices."

Waterston founded the Bend-based nonprofit The Nature of Words and the subsequent Desert Writing Prize, along with the for-profit Writing Ranch. She tells KBND News this year she's experienced a surprising trifecta, "I was awarded the Stewart H. Holbrook Award for literary arts, the Bread and Roses Award from Soapstone, and now the Poet Laureate, in 2024. OK. I wasn't born yesterday, literally, as I've joked to friends. They either think I'm about to die or, as my father said, 'if you paddle in milk long enough it turns to cream.'" She adds, "I want to bring that message: 'don't give up on your passion,' to the students, to anybody that I meet with. Do not give up on your passion, ever. You just don't know what's at work."

Waterston's poems have appeared in anthologies and journals, been featured on Writer's Almanac and landed her numerous fellowships, grants and residencies. A new collection of her essays will be published this fall. 

"The Oregon Poet Laureate is designed to encourage the art of poetry, literacy and learning, address central issues relating to humanities and heritage, and reflects on public life in Oregon," says the Oregon Cultural Trust, "Waterston will provide at least 10 public readings per yearacross the state."

Ellen Waterston portrait by Scott Nelson