POET LAUREATE:
The City of Hartford Commission on Cultural Affairs introduced our first Poet Laureate, Frederick-Douglass Knowles II, in 2019 for a three-year term.
Applications for the Hartford Poet Laureate Position are currently closed.
Frederick-Douglass Knowles II is a poet, educator and activist involved in community education. His works have been featured in the Connecticut River Review, Sinkhole Magazine, Poems on the Road to Peace: A Collective Tribute to Dr. King Volume 2. Peabody Museum of Natural History by Yale University Press, The East Haddam Stage Company of Connecticut, The 13th Annual Acacia Group Conference at California State University, Folio –a Southern Connecticut State University literary magazine, Lefoko –a Botswana, Southern Africa Hip-Hop magazine, and Fingernails Across the Chalkboard: Poetry and Prose on HIV/AIDS from the Black Diaspora by Third World Press. Frederick-Douglass is currently an Associate Professor of English at Three Rivers Community College. His collection of poetry, BlackRoseCity was featured at the 2018 Association of Writers & Writing Programs (AWP) and is available at www.BarnesandNoble.com.
You can see more about his work and background at www.frederickdouglassknowles.com and view the latest dates for his #BeatLit tour here.
Thank you to those on the Poet Laureate Selection Committee for giving their time to review the fantastic applications the Commission received, and a special thanks to The Betty Knox Foundation and Hartford Performs for funding this initiative so that Hartford’s first Poet Laureate can receive a yearly stipend.