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Delaware's Poet Laureate writes final chapter as state's top poet

JoAnn Balingit has been DE's Poet Laureate since 2008

Delaware’s Poet Laureate is retiring.

JoAnn Balingit has served as the state’s top poet for more than seven years.

She was appointed in May 2008 by then Governor Ruth Ann Minner and teaches poetry in libraries, community centers and schools across the state.

Balingit has been featured in poetry anthologies and is the author of several of her own books including her latest, “Words for House Story.”

In an interview with Delaware Public Media earlier this year, Balingit said there are many ways people can discover or revisit poetry.  

“Just find a great big anthology and flip through it,” she says. “Go to the library and see if there’s anything on the shelf. Go to an open mic or a local reading. There are lots of open mics popping up in Kent, Sussex and New Castle.”

Balingit will be honored tonight at a retirement reception at the Delaware Center for Contemporary Arts. Speakers include Governor Jack Markell and Paul Weagraff, Director of the Delaware Division of the Arts.

This piece is made possible, in part, by a grant from the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency dedicated to nurturing and supporting the arts in Delaware, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts.