Oklahoma

Current Laureate:
N. Scott Momaday (Official title: Oklahoma Centennial State Poet Laureate)

Start of Term:
July 12, 2007 (term ends Jan. 1, 2009)

Position History:
Position established June 21, 1923 (Statutes, 1995 Supplement, Sec. 98.4). Full text of law follows:

§25-98.4. State Poet Laureate.

      There is hereby designated the honorary position of State Poet Laureate. The State Poet Laureate shall be appointed by the Governor from lists provided by poetry societies and organizations and such person shall have this honorary position for a period of two (2) years. Each appointment shall be made by January 1 of every odd year beginning January 1, 1995. The person appointed to the honorary position of State Poet Laureate shall not be considered a state official or a state employee for such person's service in the honorary position of State Poet Laureate. The State Poet Laureate shall not be prohibited because of said appointed position from:
      1. Running for and being elected to any office in the state or a political subdivision of the state; or
      2. Being employed as a classified or unclassified employee of the state or a political subdivision of the state.

Added by Laws 1994, c. 53, § 1.

Previous Laureates:
Violet McDougal (1923-1930)
Paul Kroeger (1931-1940)
Jenny Harris Oliver (1940-1943)
Della I. Young (1943-1944)
Anne R. Semple (1944-1945)
Bess Truitt (1945-1946) (No other poets laureate were named until 1963, so she is generally considered the state's poet laureate until then.)
Delbert Davis (1963-1966)
Rudolph N. Hill (1966-1970)
Leslie A. McRill (1970-1977)
Maggie Culver Fry (1977-1995)
Carol Hamilton (1995-1997)
Betty Shipley (1997-1998)
Joe Kreger (1998-2001)
Carl Sennhenn (2001-2003)
Francine Ringold (2003-2007)

Further Resources:
Publications by N. Scott Momaday in the Library's online catalog.

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