BELLINGHAM, Wash. (AP) — A member of the Lummi Nation and a Bellingham writer has become the first Native American poet to serve as Washington state’s poet laureate. The Bellingham Herald reports Gov. Jay Inslee appointed Rena Priest to be the state’s sixth poet laureate. The Washington State Arts Commission and Humanities Washington made the announcement Thursday. Her two-year term begins April 15. Priest said she was “excited and honored” by the appointment. One of her main goals as poet laureate will be to celebrate poetry in tribal communities in the state. Priest succeeds Claudia Castro Luna, the current poet laureate and a Seattle resident.
First Native American poet laureate appointed in WA
