Gov. Beshear appoints Maureen Morehead as Kentucky Poet Laureate

Governor Steve Beshear today announced that poet, writer and teacher Maureen Morehead of Louisville has received the honorary appointment as Kentucky Poet Laureate for 2011-2012. Morehead will be formally inducted at the Kentucky Writers’ Day celebration April 25, 2011, in the Capitol Rotunda in Frankfort.

“I am pleased to appoint Maureen Morehead to the post of Kentucky Poet Laureate.  She is not only an accomplished poet and writer, she is also a distinguished educator, which makes her perfect for the position,” said Gov. Beshear.

Morehead’s literary background has deep roots in Kentucky and her poems draw heavily on her long residency in the state. She is currently a faculty member of Spalding University’s brief-residency MFA Program in Writing, teaching poetry. Morehead is a retired school teacher with 32 years of service with the Jefferson County public schools, teaching advanced placement English, creative writing and journalism. She also taught at the University of Louisville and Western Kentucky University and was on the faculty of the Kentucky Institute for the Arts in Education, a program designed to help educators integrate the arts into their curricula.

Morehead has published three books of poetry: “In a Yellow Room” (Sulgrave Press, 1990), “A Sense of Time Left” (Larkspur Press, 2003) and “The Melancholy Teacher” (Larkspur Press, 2010). Referring to her most recent work, “The Melancholy Teacher,” Morehead says, “It suggests why poetry matters in a world with very little emphasis on taking time to ponder the big questions: who we are, what we’re doing here, how to make meaningful these very, very short lives we’ve been given.”

Morehead also co-authored “Our Brothers’ War” (Sulgrave Press, 1993), which includes her poems and Pat Carr’s short stories on a theme of Kentucky women during the Civil War.

Morehead’s poems have appeared in national publications such as Poetry magazine and the American Poetry Review, as well as many regional literary journals. Her work has also been included in anthologies published by University Press of Kentucky, Publishers Printers and Western Kentucky University.

Honors and awards for Morehead’s work include recognition by the Governor’s Scholars Program, the Kentucky Arts Council, Kentucky Foundation for Women, National Council of Teachers of English, the Kentucky Humanities Council and Jefferson County Public Schools.

The Kentucky Poet Laureate is appointed by the Governor to promote the literary arts in Kentucky through readings and public presentations at meetings, seminars, conferences and events, including Kentucky Writers’ Day.

The Kentucky Arts Council coordinates the nomination and selection process for recommendation to the governor. Kentucky’s Poet Laureate must be a resident of Kentucky with a long association with the Commonwealth and have received critical acclaim for his or her work. Past Kentucky poets laureate appointed by governors are Gurney Norman (2009-2010), Jane Gentry Vance (2007-2008), Sena Jeter Naslund (2005-2006), Joe Survant (2003-2004), the late James Baker Hall (2001-2002), Richard Taylor (1999-2000), the late Joy Bale Boone (1997-1998) and the late James Still (1995-1996).

The Kentucky Arts Council, the state arts agency, creates opportunities for Kentuckians to value, participate in and benefit from the arts. Kentucky Arts Council funding is provided by the Kentucky General Assembly and the National Endowment for the Arts.