Arlington Names First Ever 'Poet Laureate'

Arlington County now has its own Poet Laureate.

The County Board has selected Katherine E. Young as the first ever Poet Laureate of Arlington County, and she will be honored in a brief ceremony during a board meeting at 3 p.m. on July 19 at 2100 Clarendon Boulevard, according to a statement.

Young, a resident of Arlington for 30 years, will serve as an "advocate for poetry and the literary arts and will work to raise Arlingtonians' consciousness and appreciation of poetry in its written and spoken forms," the statement notes.

"Young has won numerous awards as a poet and also as a literary translator," the statement adds. "She has read her poetry at the Library of Congress and in venues throughout the United States and abroad. These include the Oxford (U.K.) Literary Festival, and at English and Scottish venues from Cheltenham to Edinburgh. Her reviews and criticism have appeared in Poet Lore and the Innisfree Poetry Journal. She also has taught K – 12 students through the Pick-a-Poet program, a partnership between Arlington Cultural Affairs and the Arlington Public Schools (APS) Humanities Project, which places professional poets in APS classrooms. She holds a Master of Fine Arts degree in creative writing."

The Poet Laureate program was created as a partnership between the Cultural Affairs division of Arlington Economic Development and Arlington Public Library. Young will work with staff to develop and facilitate public programs aimed at bringing poetry to a wider audience.

Young will also receive an honorarium of $1,500 per year, and her name will be inscribed on a new commemorative plaque that will be installed at Courthouse Plaza.

Young was selected out of 17 submissions.

Image via Arlington County