Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has launched a search to find the city’s next poet laureate.
But rather than take in the views of everyone, she has some very specific caveats for the role, which comes with a $10,00 stipend.
The winning wordsmith will serve as “cultural ambassador,” but must host “inclusive poetry events,” and focus on “reaching neighborhoods that have historically had limited access to expressive writing,” according the job description.
And they must “amplify the voices of diverse communities.”
The translation? They must be fluent in ”woke.”
The open-call implores “master writers” with at least a decade-worth of publications to “step forward and become that voice” to amplify “the civic importance of literature, poetry and the spoken word.”
Part of the laureate’s duties will also be to headline poetry events across the city, particularly those geared towards Angelenos “that have historically had limited access to expressive writing,” the release said.
Pockets of LA that were historically deprived of economic opportunity on the basis of race, namely neighborhoods like Compton, Watts and Crenshaw, famously built the West Coast rap and hip hop empires — which many regard as its own breed of spoken word art.
Bass said: “Los Angeles thrives when every voice has the opportunity to be heard. The Poet Laureate program ensures that poets from all backgrounds can share their work, engage communities across every neighborhood, and inspire Angelenos of all ages.
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“This program is not only about celebrating talent – it’s about building connections, fostering creativity, and making the arts accessible and inclusive for everyone in our city.”
The program is run in partnership with the Los Angeles Public Library and the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs.
City Librarian John F. Szabo boasted that the program, which has been collecting dust for four years, “underscores the Library’s commitment to fostering meaningful cultural exchange through language and storytelling.”
The inaugural poet laureate, Eloise Klein Healy, held the title from 2012 to 2014 before it was handed off to Luis J. Rodriguez. His term lasted three years before Robin Coste Lewis took over.
The program took a pause after Lewis’ run fizzled out in 2019. Lynne Thompson was selected to helm the dying program in 2021, but bowed out just one year later.
Healy, 83, is best known for her feminist-forward works that hone in on “the influence of place on people,” according to her Poetry Foundation profile.
Lewis, 62, thrived in a similar realm, with pieces of her work appearing in “The Harvard Gay & Lesbian Review,” according to Poetry Foundation.
In 2021, long after his stint concluded, Rodriguez, 71, launched a short-lived campaign for governor of California. He narrowly secured 124,000 votes in the primary, according to Ballotopedia.
Thompson, a lawyer-turned-laureate, leans more into themes like family, nature, and her upbringing as a child of Caribbean immigrants, according to her website.
Bass will appoint the winner in April 2026, just in time for National Poetry Month. All applications are due on Feb. 20.
The post Los Angeles mayor wants to hire a poet laureate for the city – but they’ll need to be fluent in woke appeared first on New York Post.
