The State Laureate Program was established in 1997 and has chosen two Poet Laureates before Coles, including David Lee and Ken Brewer, said Marina Hall, head of Public Relations and Educational Outreach in the English department. The Poet Laureates are made available for readings in numerous schools and libraries. The poets are chosen to serve a five-year term.
Coles’ most recent collection of poems, “Fault,” was published in 2008. Some of her other poetry collections include, “A History of the Garden”, “One Right Touch” and “The Golden Year of the Fourth Dimension.” She recently completed a non-fiction book, “Burnt Letters,” that recounts the lives of her grandparents. Her poetry has been included in art projects, in which she assisted designing, such as Salt Lake City’s Passages Park. She has been recognized with many awards to complement her position as Utah’s Poet Laureate. These include National Endowment of the Arts and the PEN award. She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Washington, her master’s from the University of Houston and her Ph.D. in English literature and creative writing from the University of Utah. She has received multiple awards from the University of Utah for her books and contribution as a staff member.
Coles founded the Utah Symposium of Science and Literature and is currently the co-director with Fred Adler at the University of Utah. She is now an English professor at the University of Utah, teaching creative writing and literature. In addition to her positions at University of Utah, Coles is the director of Chicago’s Harriet Monroe Poetry Institute at the Poetry Foundation.
Hall said Coles was chosen to share her works with the students of USU because of her esteemed award as Utah’s Poet Laureate. The department of English stated that the purpose of the speaker series is “to promote the value of arts and humanities in American public life.”
– catherine.meidell@aggiemail.usu.edu