Francine Leffler Ringold (born 1934) is an American writer and editor who was the 15th poet laureate of the State of Oklahoma. [1]
Born and raised in New York City, Ringold in 1966 became the editor of Nimrod, the literary magazine of the University of Tulsa, where she earned her Ph.D. [2] Ringold went on to edit Nimrod and teach at the University of Tulsa for nearly 50 years. [3]
Navarre Scott Momaday is a Kiowa novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet. His novel House Made of Dawn was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1969, and is considered the first major work of the Native American Renaissance. His follow-up work The Way to Rainy Mountain blends folklore with memoir. Momaday received the National Medal of Arts in 2007 for his work's celebration and preservation of indigenous oral and art tradition. He holds 20 honorary degrees from colleges and universities and is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Annette Arkeketa is a writer, poet, and playwright, and a member of the Otoe-Missouria Tribe of Oklahoma. She has conducted professional workshops in these fields, in addition to the creative process, script consulting, and documentary film making. She directed Native American film studies at Comanche Nation College.
Nathan Brown is an author, singer-songwriter, and award-winning poet who served as the Oklahoma Poet Laureate from 2013 to 2014.
The Poet Laureate of Oklahoma is the poet laureate for the U.S. state of Oklahoma.
Carol Hamilton was the Oklahoma Poet Laureate from 1995 to 1997.
Violet McDougal (1893–1989) was an American poet. She was the first poet laureate of the state of Oklahoma, serving from 1923 to 1931.
Jeanetta Calhoun Mish is an American poet and served as Oklahoma's twenty-first poet laureate.
Jennie Harris Oliver was an American writer.
Carl Braun Sennhenn is an American writer and academic who served from as the 14th Poet Laureate of Oklahoma from 2001 until 2003. Along with Francine Ringold, he is one of two poets to win the Oklahoma Book Award for Poetry twice, in 2007 and in 2013. He is a former professor at Rose State College, where he also served as a Dean of Humanities.
Betty Lou Shipley was the twelfth poet laureate of the state of Oklahoma. Shipley's term as laureate was cut short by her death. Along with authoring three books of poetry, Shipley was the poetry editor for Byline Magazine and operator of Full Count Press and, later, Broncho Press.
Joe Russel Kreger served twice as poet laureate of the American state of Oklahoma. He was previously appointed in 1998 after the death of Betty Shipley, and reappointed in 2021. Kreger was the first poet laureate of the state to be considered primarily a "cowboy poet,", preceding Eddie Wilcoxen (2011–2012) and Jay Snider (2023-2024). Born in Tonkawa, Oklahoma, Kreger has spent most of his life as a rancher.
Paul William Kroeger (1907-1977) was Oklahoma's second poet laureate, appointed in 1931 by Governor William H. Murray. Though his work appeared in periodicals and anthologies, Kroeger never published a volume of poems, and his work is rarely read today.
Della Iona Cann Young (1872-1945) was Oklahoma's fourth poet laureate, appointed in 1943 by Governor Robert S. Kerr.
Anne Ruth Semple was a Native American writer and professor and the fifth poet laureate of the state of Oklahoma; appointed in 1945 by Governor Robert S. Kerr. Semple earned her Ph.D. from Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College, which is now Oklahoma State University, with a dissertation on the history of Oklahoma Presbyterian College. She was a professor of Education at Southeastern Oklahoma State University from at least 1947 until 1965.
Delbert Hugh Davis (1883-1965) was the seventh poet laureate of Oklahoma, appointed in 1963 by Governor Henry Bellmon. Davis was for a time associated with a notable group of writers based in Fallis, Oklahoma. Davis primarily earned his living through farming and ranching, and he self-published his only book, Pipe Dreams, in 1952.
Rudolph Nelson Hill (1903-1980) was the eighth poet laureate of Oklahoma, appointed by Governor Henry Bellmon, in 1966. Born in Missouri, Hill was raised in central Oklahoma and lived most of his life in Wewoka. Hill was educated at The University of Oklahoma and worked as a lawyer. In 1970, Hill was a named a Poet Laureate Emeritus by Governor Dewey Bartlett.
Leslie A. McRill (1886-1982) was the ninth poet laureate of Oklahoma, appointed by Governor Dewey F. Bartlett in 1970. McRill was born in Kansas but lived much of his life in Oklahoma and graduated from the college which is now Oklahoma City University. He also earned a master's degree in French from the University of Southern California.
Maggie Culver Fry (1900-1998) was the tenth poet laureate of Oklahoma, appointed in 1977 by Governor David L. Boren. Fry wrote her first poem at the age of 10 and now has more than 800 stories, poems, and articles published.
Eddie D. Wilcoxen served as the eighteenth poet laureate of the state of Oklahoma, appointed by Governor Brad Henry. Previous to his appointment, Wilcoxen was well known as a broadcaster with KWHW (AM) in Altus, Oklahoma. Wilcoxen's poetry is best classified as "folk" poetry, with an emphasis on rural life and traditions. Wilcoxen was also an accomplished karateka, training under the accomplished karateka and kickboxer, Joe Lewis. Wilcoxen then went on to create his own form of karate that he named Kihido Karate, kihido meaning "The Shining Spirit Way".
Benjamin Myers is an American poet, essayist, educator, and musician. In 2015, Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin appointed Myers the twentieth poet laureate of Oklahoma. He has written three books of poetry, and his poems have appeared in many nationally prominent periodicals.
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