PLP+History


 * History of The Poet Laureate Project**

This is the 11th year for this wonderful community event which brings together students, poets, and their teachers to celebrate poetry in the month of April. The original goal of the project was to build community through poetry and it certainly has done that. The event grew out of a collaboration between the public and school libraries as part of the Greensboro Public Library and Friends of the Greensboro Public Library's [|Poetry GSO]program. The High School Poet Laureate Project is just one of many events listed in their [|2008 program].

What is the selection process? Public and private high school students in Guilford County are invited to participate each year. Each high school selects three poets who have submitted at least three original poems to a school committee for judging. A guest reader then selects the poet laureate for each school from the three candidates. Guest editors have included writers Fred Chappell, Mark Smith-Soto, Anjail Ahmad and Jennifer Grotz.

In the past, the poets laureate have been guests of the Greensboro Public Library and enjoyed meeting with two former poets laureate of the United States. In 2004-05, students met Rita Dove and in 2003-04, they met Billy Collins. This was a wonderful opportunity for our students. It was great!

At their home schools, poet laureates have hosted readings, coffee houses, poetry announcements, teas, read for food drives and other events to promote poetry in April during National Poetry Month. Media specialists in the schools work closely with these students and their creative writing teachers to encourage a poetry community in the high schools. Many schools invite their poet laureate to read an original poem as part of the final awards ceremony or even graduation.

After the poet laureate is chosen for each school, their three poems are collected into a booklet, simply named //**Word**//, which is distributed throughout the schools and hopefully, to our school libraries. Who knows, one day these young people may be famous published poets and authors. We can say we knew them when.


 * Timeline of visiting poets at the Greensboro Public Library as part of PoetryGSO**


 * = **Year** ||= **Visiting Poet** ||= **Poet Laureate Judge** ||
 * < 2013-2014 ||  ||   ||
 * 2012-2013 ||  ||   ||
 * 2011-2012 ||  ||   ||
 * 2010-2011 || [|Gary Soto] ||  ||
 * 2009-10 || [|Julia Ebel] ||  ||
 * = 2008-09 ||= [|Pat Mora] ||=  ||
 * = 2007-08 ||= [|Nikki Giovanni] ||=  ||
 * = 2006-07 ||= [|Healing Words] ||= Jennifer Grotz ||
 * = 2005-06 ||= [|Luis Rodriguez] ||= Dr. Anjail Ahmad ||
 * = 2004-05 ||= [|Rita Dove] ||= Dr. Mark Smith-Soto ||
 * = 2003-04 ||= [|Billy Collins] ||= Fred Chappell ||