An NPR member station
Poetry Moment

Arianne True reads her original poem, "Encoded Anatomies"

Your browser doesn’t support HTML5 audio

Washington State Poet Laureate (2023–25) Arianne True
Michael Wallenfels

A fusion of poetry and marine biology

Arianne True is a poet and excitable human based in Tacoma, WA, and from the Choctaw and Chickasaw nations. Currently, she is the 2023–2025 Washington State Poet Laureate.

Arianne grew up in the Seattle writing community, nurtured by YouthSpeaks and the Richard Hugo House, and as an adult, has (to her delight) gotten to return and work with young writers in both spaces. She's taught with Writers in the Schools, mentored with the Seattle Youth Poet Laureate program and Hugo House's Young Writers Cohort and been a guest lecturer at the University of Washington.

She is involved in other Seattle arts communities as well, including performative mythology and Appalachian folk traditions. She's also queer, food-oriented and passionate about her PNW home.

More information about Arianne is available at her website.