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The Iowa Poet Laureate The Iowa Poet Laureate is a two-year renewable appointment sponsored by Humanities Iowa that is intended to recognize the importance of poetry in Iowans' everyday lives. The first Poet Laureate was Marvin Bell, the University of Iowa's Flannery O'Connor Professor of Letters. A National Book Award finalist, Bell is the author of 16 books of poetry. Bell's appointment as Poet Laureate came in March 2002 following his unanimous recommendation to the governor by a committee of six poetry experts from around the state. In 2004, Robert Dana was named Iowa's second Poet Laureate. Dana, a Pulitzer Prize nominee, was a professor of English and poet-in-residence at Cornell College in Mount Vernon. Dana was reappointed to the position in 2006 and continued to serve as the voice of Iowa poetry during his term. In 2009, Mary Swander, Professor of English at Iowa State University, was named Iowa's third Poet Laureate.
In March 2000, the current National Poet Laureate, Robert Pinsky (left), and the future Iowa Poet Laureate, Mary Swander (right).
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Current Poet Laureate, Mary Swander was selected as Iowa's third Poet Laureate in 2009, succeeding Robert Dana.
Former Cornell College "Poet in Residence" Robert Dana (right) was selected as Iowa's second Poet Laureate in 2004, succeeding Marvin Bell (left). Click here to read Robert Dana's "Morning of the Red Admirals"
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