Olympia appoints Kathleen Byrd as new poet laureate

Kathleen Byrd is Olympia's new poet laureate for 2023 to 2025.

At the Olympia City Council meeting on June 20, the Arts Commission recommended Byrd as the city's fourth poet laureate.

According to Arts Commission Chair Jim Burlingame, Byrd is an English and Creative Writing professor at South Puget Sound Community College and has brought climate change issues into her curriculum and poetry.

"The commission appreciated Ms. Byrd's deep, rich perspective on the community,” said Burlingame.

Byrd was not present to witness her appointment as the new city poet.

Stephanie Johnson of the Parks, Arts, and Recreation Department said the next poet laureate will use poetry to bring attention to environmental issues and climate change.

Olympia's past Poet Laureates

"Poet laureate is less an honorary title and more about service of her status. Duties include promoting poetry as an art form, expanding access to the literary arts, and encouraging poetry as a community voice that contributes to a sense of place," Johnson explained.

Johnson added that the city selects a poet laureate every two years to engage the community in the literary arts. She said the Olympia has had three poet laureates since the program started. The prior poet laureates are Amy Solomon Minarchi from 2017 to 2018; Sady Sparks from 2019 to 2020; and Ashly McBunch, who served from 2021 to 2023.

Recognition of outgoing poet laureate Ashly McBunch

Ashly McBunch, Olympia's outgoing poet laureate

The city council also recognized outgoing poet laureate McBunch, who served the community for two years.

Mayor Cheryl Selby presented a token of appreciation to McBunch "for using the power of poetry to foster insight, understanding, and healing around the issues of equity and inclusion in the community."

During her term, McBunch conducted poetry workshops and represented the city in various community events. She contributed poetry at public art dedications, the Armory housewarming, and most recently, Olympia's new transgender celebration crosswalks.

"McBunch also played a role in incorporating poetry and city processes into the roadmap for Reimagining Public Safety community outreach, providing a significant artistic moment to center amidst the intensity of the process," Johnson said.

McBunch collaborated with local artists and contributed to several arts and writing projects. She also contributed to "In Fullness of the Word: An Anthology of Black American Poet Laureates."

McBunch said she is the first Black, non-binary, disabled, and retired Army veteran to hold the title.

Ashly McBunch

"I often wanted to clone myself to be at more places in my physical form to represent what poetry could look, feel or sound like, along with my city duties,” McBunch said. My goal was to show everyone in this room and beyond as a poet by facilitating space for students, through elders, to explore that within themselves and the world around them."