Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek has named Bend's own Ellen Waterston the state's 11th poet laureate.
"The Oregon Poet Laureate fosters the art of poetry, encourages literacy and learning, addresses central issues relating to humanities and heritage, and reflects on public life in Oregon," according to the governor's office.
Locals may know Waterston from any number of her literary pursuits, including being the founder of the nonprofit, Nature of Words, the founder of the Waterston Desert Writing Prize, now associated with the High Desert Museum, and as an instructor in Oregon State University-Cascades' Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing Low-Residency program. Readers of the Source Weekly will also know Waterston as the columnist behind "The Third Act," a column on ageism and ageing that appears in the fourth issue of each month (including this issue!).
"Ellen Waterston stands out for her commitment to community engagement, her focus on bringing different ways of living and different parts of the state together, and her notable ability to describe the moments, places and people that make Oregon, Oregon," Kotek stated in a press release on Aug. 15.
To be considered for the honor, poets are nominated by community members. Then a 20-person committee of writers, poets and cultural leaders reviews the nominees and narrows the list for the Governor to decide upon.
During her two-year tenure as poet laureate, Waterston will do a minimum of 10 public readings per year around the state — a process that looks a little different for each poet laureate. During previous poet laureate Anis Mojgani's term from 2020 to 2024, the Portland-based poet — the youngest ever poet laureate in Oregon — spent the pandemic years scribing and sharing poems from his studio window. Waterson's tenure will also be steeped in a sense of place, and also a sense of where she stands in life.
"Being on this side of the mountains, which is really exciting, I will focus a lot on Central and Eastern Oregon in my travels — much of it is determined by people requesting my appearance," Waterston told the Source Weekly. "I'm not shy about recognizing out loud that I am an elder, and I hope to bring that message to fellow elders that, well, basically, it's not over till it's over.
"I want to acknowledge elders — acknowledge the amount of time we've been walking on this planet, and encourage them, all of us, to realize we've got a lot to offer and a lot to say."
As the 11th poet laureate, Waterson follows an esteemed roster of poets, including Edwin Charles Markham (1921–1940); Ben Hur Lampman (1951–1954); Ethel Romig Fuller (1957–1965); William Stafford (1974–1989); Lawson Inada (2006–2010); Paulann Petersen (2010-2014); Peter Sears (2014-2016); Elizabeth Woody (2016-2018); Kim Stafford (2018-2020); and Anis Mojgani (2020-2024).
"The truth is: Ellen Waterston's poems arrive," wrote Lawson Fusao Inada, Oregon's fifth poet laureate. "They situate themselves naturally, to proceed in compelling, telling ways. Each poem leaves something behind."
Those looking for a place to see Waterston in action can attend the upcoming In a Landscape piano concert with Hunter Noack at Fort Rock on Sept. 22, followed by a pie social and barn dance at the Fort Rock Grange.
