Poet Laureate

Stephan Delbos Named Poet Laureate of Plymouth

Stephan Delbos, Poet Laureate of Plymouth photo credit: Amy Huck

The Plymouth Public Library is pleased to have been part of the process facilitating the choice of a Poet Laureate for Plymouth and happy to announce that Stephan Delbos has been chosen for this position.

The poetry, essays and translations of Stephan Delbos have been published internationally. He is the editor of From a Terrace in Prague: A Prague Poetry Anthology (Litteraria Pragensia, 2011). His play Chetty’s Lullaby, about the life of trumpet legend Chet Baker, was produced in San Francisco in 2014. His co-translation of The Absolute Gravedigger, by Czech poet Vítězslav Nezval, was awarded the PEN/Heim Translation grant in 2015 and was published by Twisted Spoon Press. Deaf Empire, his play about Czech composer Bedřich Smetana, was produced by the Prague Shakespeare Company in 2017. Delbos is also the author of the poetry chapbook In Memory of Fire (Cape Cod Poetry Review, 2017), and the poetry collection Light Reading (BlazeVOX, 2019). His poetry collection Small Talk is forthcoming from Dos Madres Press. He is a founding editor of the web journal B O D Y www.bodyliterature.com).

The role of the Plymouth Poet Laureate is to elevate poetry in the consciousness of Plymouth residents and to promote the community’s values, history, people, and cultural traditions through literary arts. The Plymouth Poet Laureate is an honorary two-year appointment from 2020 to 2022. During that term, the Poet Laureate will advocate for poetry, literature, and the arts, as well as contribute to the community’s literary legacy through public readings and participation in civic events. The Poet Laureate is encouraged to actively propose and lead community projects that strengthen the program’s purpose.

At the Library on Thursday, February 20, we were honored to host the Poet Laureate Panel finalist presentations with readings by the talented finalists – it was a standing room only event.  Attendees were treated to the work of four extremely talented individuals:

Photographs of the event by Denise Maccaferri are now available.  The gallery is unlocked so that anyone who visits it by following the link may download photos.  There is no password needed to download. To download individual photos, just click on the downward-facing arrow under the photo. To download all the photos at one time, click on the downward-facing arrow in the lower right corner of the large gallery banner photo, next to the GREEN Buy Photos button.  Then enter the email address to where you want a zip file of the photos sent.  Within a minute or two, an email with the zip file will arrive.

Thursday, February 20 – Poet Laureate Finalists Reception & Presentations