Series 2892: Mississippi Poet Laureate Files. 2015-2016.
Mississippi Arts Commission (RG 90)

Series 2892: Mississippi Poet Laureate Files. 2015-2016.
Mississippi Arts Commission (RG 90)

      This series involves the nomination and choosing of Mississippi’s Poet Laureate, the official state poet and a representative of the cultural heritage of Mississippi. The person in this position is responsible for creating and reading appropriate poetry at state occasions and state agency functions. In 1963, Maude Willard Leet Prenshaw was named the first Poet Laureate of Mississippi, then a lifetime position. Starting in 2011, the Governor’s Office, in partnership with the Mississippi Arts Commission and Mississippi’s other cultural agencies, instituted a four-year term for the state’s poet laureate, starting in 2012. The documents include applications, resumes with samples of work, correspondence, and press releases.