RJA Member Appointed Poet Laureate of Tacoma

photo courtesy of Josie Emmons Turner

The Tacoma Arts Commission recently announced the selection of RJA member Josie Emmons Turner as the 2011-2013 Poet Laureate for the City of Tacoma. Over the next two years, Emmons Turner will participate actively in the local community by providing poetry related workshops, reading at public events, and participating in Art at Work: Tacoma Arts Month each November.

Emmons Turner’s poetry has been published in 20/20 Tacoma in Images and Verse, 2010 Floating Bridge Review Number 3, In Tahoma’s Shadow, California Quarterly, and Backstreet Review. She received her M.F.A. through the Rainier Writers Workshop at Pacific Lutheran University and her B.A. from Seattle University. She has been a creative writing educator for three years, currently with Clover Park High School.

In an interview with The Weekly Volcano, Josie mentions Jeffers as one of the poets she frequently returns to. She is also featured in the Tacoma Weekly and can be found on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Josie-Emmons-Turner/162124677179856.