Poet Laureate
New Mexico State Poet Laureate
The New Mexico State Poet Laureate program seeks to be actively present in communities in every part of New Mexico offering accessible and enjoyable explorations in poetry reading and writing for both experienced poetry enthusiasts and novices alike.
Manuel González, Current New Mexico State Poet Laureate
Celebrated poet and cultural advocate Manuel González has been named the third New Mexico State Poet Laureate, a recognition that affirms his profound contributions to the literary arts and his enduring impact on New Mexico’s communities. Appointed by New Mexico Arts and the New Mexico State Library, divisions of the Department of Cultural Affairs, González will begin his three-year term effective immediately. González’s appointment marks the continuation of a powerful legacy rooted in poetry as a vehicle for healing, empowerment, and cultural memory. A former Albuquerque Poet Laureate (2016–2018), González is widely respected not only for his artistry on the page and stage, but also for his unwavering commitment to community and justice. "I’m honored and humbled to be named the next New Mexico State Poet Laureate. Poetry has been medicine in my life, helping me heal, remember, and reconnect with my family, my community, and my ancestors," says González. "As laureate, I want to carry that medicine across our state: to schools, libraries, pueblos, and plazas. I hope to create spaces where all voices, especially underrepresented voices, can rise, be heard, and be celebrated. This is about poetry as healing, as storytelling, and as a way to keep our collective spirit alive." For more than two decades, González has worked at the intersections of poetry, education, and social change. His leadership has reached detention centers, classrooms, and community spaces throughout New Mexico. As a teacher at the Native American Community Academy, he uses trauma-informed, culturally grounded curricula to empower Indigenous and Chicano youth. He mentors young poets through Brave New Voices and co-founded Low Writing at El Chante: Casa de Cultura, a beloved community workshop that brings intergenerational groups together to write, heal, and build solidarity. "Manuel González is not only a poet of great skill, he is a steward of New Mexico’s living culture,” said Debra Garcia y Griego, Cabinet Secretary of the Department of Cultural Affairs. “His work reveals the soul of our communities, and his leadership as Poet Laureate will inspire New Mexicans of all ages to find their voice and share their stories." As State Poet Laureate, González will lead statewide poetry initiatives, create educational outreach programs, and serve as an ambassador for New Mexico’s rich literary traditions. Through public readings, workshops, and creative projects, he will support literacy while championing poetry as a living, breathing force and a means of connection, resilience, and joy.
Lauren Camp, Former New Mexico State Poet Laureate, 2023 - 2025
Former New Mexico Poet Laureate Lauren Camp is the author of eight poetry collections, most recently In Old Sky (Grand Canyon Conservancy, 2024), which grew out of her experience as Astronomer-in-Residence at Grand Canyon National Park. She is the founder of the New Mexico Epic Poem Project. Camp was awarded fellowships from the Academy of American Poets and Black Earth Institute. Other honors include a Dorset Prize and finalist citations for the Arab American Book Award, Housatonic Book Award, Big Other Book Award and Adrienne Rich Award for Poetry. She was artist-in-residence at Lowell Observatory, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Hedgebrook, Denver Botanic Gardens, Storyknife and The Taft-Nicholson Center for Environmental Humanities, and a visiting writer at the Mayo Clinic. Her poems and essays have appeared in many journals and anthologies, including Kenyon Review, Prairie Schooner, Orion, Missouri Review, and Poem-a-Day. Her work has been translated into Turkish, Mandarin, Serbian, Arabic, French and Spanish. She has pivoted from a successful career as a visual artist (1996-2008). Her portrait series, “The Fabric of Jazz,” traveled to museums in ten cities. More artwork can be found in cultural centers, hospitals, museums, U.S. embassies and other organizations around the world. For 15 years, she was a producer and host for Santa Fe Public Radio.
Levi Romero, New Mexico’s Inaugural Poet Laureate, 2020 - 2023
Levi Romero is an American poet, academic, architect, and lecturer in creative writing and Chicano studies at the University of New Mexico. In 2012, he was named the centennial poet for New Mexico. He was selected as the inaugural New Mexico Poet Laureate in 2020. He is from the Embudo Valley of New Mexico, and he earned a BA and an MA in architecture at the University of New Mexico. A bilingual poet whose language is immersed in the regional manito dialect of northern New Mexico, Romero is the co-author of Sagrado: A Photopoetics Across the Chicano Homeland (2013), and author of A Poetry of Remembrance: New and Rejected Works (2008), In the Gathering of Silence (1996), and other publications. His work has been published throughout the U.S., Mexico, Spain, and Cuba.