Poet Laureate of Tompkins County

The position of Tompkins County Poet Laureate was established by the Tompkins County Legislature in 2001 to honor local outstanding poets, integrate poetry into the community, enrich the education of our young people, and enhance the county’s position as a cultural center.

What is a Poet Laureate?

A poet laureate is a poet officially appointed by a government or conferring organization.  The tradition is believed to have started in what is now Italy in the 14th century.  Today, more than a dozen countries around the world continue the tradition.  The United States created the position of national poet laureate in 1937, and today many U.S. states and communities name their own poets laureate.

Tompkins County's Poet Laureate 

Since its establishment, the selection and announcement of the Tompkins County Poet Laureate has been a process administered by the Community Arts Partnership (CAP). CAP solicits nominations and organizes the selection panel for appointment to the post. Appointments have been for two-year terms. This is an honorary position, with a $1,500 stipend in place for 2025.
 

Current Poet Laureate Dan Rosenberg

On February 19, 2025, the Tompkins County Legislature appointed Dan Rosenberg as the County’s Poet Laureate for the first half of 2025.

Dr. Rosenberg is a Visiting Senior Lecturer at Cornell University. He lives in Ithaca, NY, with his wife, poet Alicia Rebecca Myers, and their son, Miles.

He is the author of Bassinet (Carnegie Mellon University Press, 2022), cadabra (Carnegie Mellon University Press, 2015), and The Crushing Organ (Dream Horse Press, 2012). He has also written two chapbooks, Thigh's Hollow (Omnidawn, 2015) and A Thread of Hands (Tilt Press, 2010), and he co-translated Miklavž Komelj's Hippodrome (Zephyr Press, 2016). His work has won the American Poetry Journal Book Prize and the Omnidawn Poetry Chapbook Contest.

Dr. Rosenberg is the 12th Poet Laureate to be appointed in Tompkins County. He succeeds Janie E. Bibbie, who served from 2023 through 2024. The position of Tompkins County Poet Laureate was established by the Tompkins County Legislature in 2001 to honor local outstanding poets, integrate poetry into the community, enrich the education of our young people, and enhance the county’s position as a cultural center.

Explains Megan Barber, Executive Director of the Community Arts Partnership, which administers the Poet Laureate selection process, “We received nominations for nine outstanding local poets, each with unique ideas about how to put poetry in service to the community.  We are so excited about Dan’s appointment.”

Dr. Rosenberg states, "I am very grateful for this honor. I believe poetry offers us valuable opportunities to slow down, to reflect, and to extend our empathy, and I’m excited to share these gifts with our whole community.”

"The Tompkins County Poet Laureate plays an important role in uplifting the art of poetry in our community. I am looking forward to Mr. Rosenberg’s words and his work bringing poetry into the lives of all of us in the county,” said Susan Currie, Tompkins County Legislator.

Visit Dan's website at https://www.danrosenberg.us