How Do You Become a Poet Laureate?
Quick answer: How do you become a poet laureate? You are appointed, not elected: a sustained publication record, honours and public service put poets on the shortlist.
You become a poet laureate by appointment, not application: a government, library or civic body selects a poet whose published work, honours and public presence have made them a natural representative of poetry. In the United States, the Librarian of Congress appoints the national laureate for a one-year renewable term. In the United Kingdom, the monarch appoints on the prime minister's advice, historically for life and now for ten years. Nobody fills in a form.
That is the national picture, and it sits at the end of a long career. The useful truth for a working poet is that laureateships exist at every scale: states, counties, cities and towns appoint laureates too, and many of those positions do accept nominations and applications. Becoming the laureate of your city is a realistic mid-career goal; becoming the national one is a lifetime's side effect.
What the role actually is
A laureate is poetry's public servant. The US laureate gives readings, runs a signature project, and champions poetry through the Library of Congress; recent laureates built programmes carrying poems into rural communities and classrooms. The British laureate traditionally marks national occasions in verse, a duty modern holders interpret loosely. Local laureates judge school contests, write for civic events and generally make poetry visible where they live.
The honour is real but modest in pay: a stipend in the US, and in Britain a small honorarium with the famous butt of sack, several hundred bottles of sherry, still part of the deal.
The unofficial requirements
Since there is no application for the top jobs, think in terms of what appointing committees look at.
The path you can actually walk
Start where appointments are open. Hundreds of towns, cities and regions run laureate schemes with public nomination windows; a local arts council can tell you yours. Build the qualifying record the same way every poet does: publish poems, then collections, win what you can, and say yes to public work, school visits, festival slots, judging, until representing poetry is something you demonstrably already do. Laureateships at every level go to poets who behaved like laureates before anyone paid them to.
What poets can take from this
- Find out whether your city or region has a laureate scheme and how it nominates.
- Say yes to public poetry work early; committees appoint proven ambassadors.
- Build the publication record first, since every laureateship stands on it.
- Propose a concrete community project when applying for local posts.
- Study current laureates' careers as maps rather than as competition.
- Treat the title as service, because the role is mostly generous labour.
Try it yourself
Write the poem you would read at a civic occasion in your home town, honest enough that the mayor shifts in their seat.
Questions
Can you apply to be the national poet laureate?
No. National laureates in the US and UK are appointed by the Librarian of Congress and the Crown respectively, based on career achievement. Local and state laureateships, by contrast, often take applications and nominations.
Do poet laureates get paid?
Modestly. The US laureate receives a stipend of around 35,000 dollars; the British laureate gets a small honorarium plus the traditional barrel of sherry. Local posts range from small stipends to purely honorary.
How long does a poet laureate serve?
The US term is one year, often renewed once. The UK appointment is now ten years; it was for life until 1999. Local laureateships commonly run one to three years.
By the Writory editorial team, reviewed by working poets. Updated July 2026.
Enter a Writory poetry contest
Enter the September contest and have your own poem read and scored. That first entry makes you a Writorian.