Covington native named as Louisiana’s next Poet Laureate

COVINGTON, La. (WVUE) - Beginning on Aug. 14, Covington native Alison Pelegrin will serve as Louisiana’s next Poet Laureate for the next two years.

Gov. John Bel Edwards and The Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities made the official announcement Thursday (Aug. 3).

“The Poet Laureate acts as Louisiana’s literary ambassador, and Alison’s long record of teaching, sharing, and producing poetry that engages readers makes her a perfect fit as the preeminent poet of our state,” said Governor John Bel Edwards. “Her work is both beautifully crafted and appeals to a broad range of readers, and it will undoubtedly help elevate poetry in the public consciousness.”

In recent years, Pelegrin’s writing has ascended to statewide and national acclaim. She is currently the Writer-in-Residence at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond and her works include four collections of poetry: Our Lady of Bewilderment, Waterlines, Hurricane Party, and Big Muddy River of Stars. She is also the 2006 Akron Poetry Prize winner and her chapbook Our Lady of the Flood won the Diode 2018 chapbook prize and an Eric Hoffer Award.

Pelegrin is the recipient of a literature fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts and an ATLAS Grant from the Louisiana Board of Regents. Her work has appeared in Bennington Review, The Southern Review, and Ninth Letter, and as printable broadsides at Broadsided.

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