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Juliet Z. DeMarko, MA, was appointed interim poet laureate in February 2009. On April 12, 2011 “Julie” was named as the sixth official Poet Laureate of Northwest Florida. A former restaurateur, chef and author of two memoir cookbooks , DeMarko’s first book of poetry, ''Blue Ridge Childhood'', appeared in 2011. DeMarko’s term ended in March 2014.
Jamey Jones, a college instructor at Pensacola State College and author of ''Blue Rain Morning," was inducted as the seventh poet laureate in October 2014, following a selection process that took nearly a year. During his two terms, he brought poets Lewis Warsh, Barbara Henning, Anne Waldman, and Kim Addonizio to participate in Foo Foo Festival or to Pensacola State, where he teaches. He hosted at least two community poetry events at Artel Gallery, including an evening of original readings by area writers, all inspired by Thoreau.
Katherine Nelson-Born, PhD., served as Poet Laureate from 2020-2023 and even during a pandemic energized area poets. She brought divergent voices together with her Poet’s Roundtable, reaching out to various poetry communities in the area. With her HOPE focus of the healing powers of poetry, she coordinated poetry contests, haiku contests and oral haiku competitions. During the pandemic she utilized the internet to build a community of poets who enjoyed Poem-A-Day prompts to encourage daily writing. During her term, two Florida poets were honored with the publication of chapbooks by Emerald Coast Writers. She supervised an intern from the University of West Florida and assisted with student poetry competitions.
