The Alabama Poet Laureate Outreach Fund
AWC was able to raise $1,340.00 for the 2020 Alabama State Poet Laureate Outreach Fund!
We are so grateful to be able to support Jennifer Horne, our state poet laureate in advocating, educating, and cultivating poetry throughout the state.
Thank you to everyone who shared and donated. This is an example of how much her work is valued, needed, and appreciated. It should be heartening to all of us as we move into a new year of writing, editing, publishing, reading, and journeying with words.
To learn more about Jennifer Horne, visit the State Laureate page or read this conversation about her new poetry collection.
To quote the laureate, herself:
It was such an honor to be named state poet laureate, and I went into it with the general goals of connecting poets to each other and to their communities, amplifying what was going on in the literary community, and encouraging people in Alabama to learn more about and enjoy poetry while creating literary resources and events in their own towns.
When I look at my calendar over the past two years, I can see what a rich journey it's been already (with two still to go). Predictably, I've spoken at writing conferences, done workshops and readings, and been part of a number of literary events such as the One Million Poets event. I've also spoken to a Rotary Club, judged the statewide Poetry Out Loud contest for high school students and several out-of-state contests, helped plan the state book festival, Skyped with a junior high creative writing club in Los Angeles, spoken to an OLLI group about Alabama Writers Hall of Fame inductees, appeared on a panel of poet laureates with the Mississippi (Beth Ann Fennelly) and Louisiana (Jack Bedell) laureates at the Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival, spoken at several schools and churches, and participated in a tribute to Toni Morrison. I regularly correspond with writers seeking advice on publication and writing. I also try to use social media frequently to share information about all the literary activity going on in Alabama.