Poetry
The Library hosts programs and events that help everyone explore and experience poetry. Come to poetry readings and open mics to hear poets from our community and around the country, and get recommendations from our staff to help you find poems and poets that move you.
Seattle Reads 2025
Our 2025 Seattle Reads selection is “You Are Here: Poetry in the Natural World”, a poetry anthology edited by U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón.
Seattle Reads is our citywide book group. This is the second time that a poetry anthology has been selected for Seattle Reads. Programming for Seattle Reads 2025 includes workshops and Poetry Potlucks at our branches, as well as a visit by Ada Limón.
Guest Curated Series
This spring our Guest Curated Series (with Poet Planner Laura Da’) celebrates Poetry in Public, a project that honors and fosters local voices in one of our most vital shared spaces: transit.
Through a submission process open to all King County residents, poems inspired by the theme “Places of Landing” were featured on public transit.
Civic Poet
The Seattle Civic Poet is a partnership between the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture (ARTS), the Office of the Mayor, the Seattle City of Literature and the Library.
Dujie Tahat is the 2025-2026 Seattle Civic Poet, the fifth Civic Poet in the program’s history.
Staff Picks
Need suggestions for poems and poets to read? Explore these lists of poetry books and anthologies that our staff recommend.
- Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander Poets
- Black Diasporic Poets
- Latinx and Latine Poetry
- LGBTQ+ Poetry and Essays
- LGBTQ+ Poets
- Native American Poetry
- Novels in Verse for Grown ups
- Transgender and Genderqueer Poets
For personalized recommendations, tell our librarians about some poetry books you’ve enjoyed, and they will pick five books just for you!