Overview
The City of Tucson, in partnership with the Arts Foundation for Tucson and Southern Arizona and the University of Arizona Poetry Center, is pleased to announce the open call for the next Tucson Poet Laureate. This three-year honorary appointment begins March 1, 2026, and includes a $15,000 honorarium to recognize the Laureate’s artistic and public contribution.
The Tucson Poet Laureate program honors outstanding literary achievement and supports poets in engaging the public through creative expression, education, and community connection. It aims to strengthen the relationship between the arts and civic life, while encouraging poetry as a source of reflection and inspiration throughout the Tucson community.
All nominations are reviewed by a community panel administered by the Arts Foundation. The final review will result in a ranked list of three individuals outlining the panel’s recommendations for the Poet Laureate. The City of Tucson Mayor makes the final selection from the panel’s recommendation of finalists.
City of Tucson Announces Open Call for 2026-2029 Tucson Poet Laureate
Open to Tucson residents with at least two years of continuous residency at the time of application, the Poet Laureate will serve as the City’s official ambassador for poetry, bringing the literary arts into schools, neighborhoods, and public events throughout Tucson.
Past Tucson Poet Laureates
TC TOLBERT
TC Tolbert was appointed the Tucson Poet Laureate in 2017, reflecting the spirit of the community by promoting literary education in schools and communities and bringing poetry to the people in Tucson who have limited access or exposure to the literary arts.
Rebecca Seiferle
In 2012, Mayor Rothschild named poet, translator, and editor, Rebecca Seiferle Tucson’s Poet Laureate.
Rebecca earned a BA from SUNY and an MFA from Warren Wilson College. Her collections of poetry include The Music We Dance To (1999), winner of the Cecil Hemley Award from the Poetry Society of America; Bitters (2001), which won both the Western States Book Award and a Pushcart Prize; and Wild Tongue (2007), winner of the Grub Street National Poetry Prize. She has translated the works of poets such as César Vallejo, Alfonso D’Aquino, and Ernesto Lumbreras.
You can read a full article about Rebecca Seiferle’s impressions as Tucson Poet Laureate here.