Our Mission
The mission of MCPL is to bring poets together to share their thoughts and ideas about poetry and expose the community to rich poetic traditions. We invite the community to partake in the myriad of free programs and projects lead by our very own Poets Laureate. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the MCPL program regards poetry as a local public art form and offers both awareness of and involvement in an artistic and cultural outlet.
About Us
The Montgomery County Poet Laureate Program was started in 1998 by Joanne Leva. As a member of the Indian Valley Arts Foundation, Joanne recognized the value of personal expression through the literary arts and poetry and saw an opportunity to benefit the community, offer broad-based education for people of all ages, and improve the access to cultural outlets, leading her to form the MCPL.
The Poet Laureate competition includes a community service directive with a program developed by each Poet Laureate to elevate the literary arts in the community, expand their own personal experience and increase overall awareness of the program. As a result of this initiative, MCPL has expanded the many programs available to experience and learn about poetry including our most recent addition, the Montgomery County Youth Poet Laureate Competition.
2025 MCPL Judge Shawn R. Jones
Shawn R. Jones was born in Hartford, Connecticut and grew up in Atlantic City, New Jersey. She is a 2023 Civitella Ranieri Fellow, and her poetry collection, Date of Birth, has won the 2022 Lexi Rudnitsky First Book Prize in Poetry. She is also the author of two...
Montgomery County Poet Laureate Competition
Poet Laureate Adjudication
A “celebrity judge” is called upon to adjudicate manuscripts for both the Youth and Adult Poet Laureate Competitions. Manuscripts are assigned numeric values to maintain anonymity to determine the winner in a fair and objective way. The winning poet receives a cash award and a year of opportunities to enhance their public profile as featured poets in events throughout the area in addition to their community outreach project.
What is a Poet Laureate?
A Poet Laureate is an individual who composes poems, who has the ability to express poetic ideas in beautiful language, and has been identified as having the highest degree of excellence in poetry. Submissions open in the Fall through February. Winners are announced in April.
