Kim Stafford, Oregon's ninth Poet Laureate, is a poet, essayist, memoirist, short story writer, and songwriter. An influential teacher recognized for his contributions to Oregon literature, he is a popular public speaker, storyteller, and workshop leader. He is the founder of the Northwest Writing Institute at Lewis & Clark College and a co-founder of Fishtrap. The author of more than a dozen books, Stafford's poetry has been published in national magazines and journals and collected in several volumes stretching over five decades, from A Gypsy's History of the World (1976) and Wild Honey, Tough Salt (2019). He also has self-published a series of chapbooks, beginning in 2017 with The Flavor of Unity: Post-Election Poems. His poems have been inscribed into public artworks, from OHSU's Doernbecher Children's Hospital to the plaza at TriMet's Orenco Station light-rail stop. Thousands of students have worked with Stafford through artists-in-the-schools projects and at writing festivals. He also has worked with adult audiences, ranging from the Oregon Legislature to the Cowboy Poetry Festival to the U.S. Forest Service, and has given workshops in Scotland, Italy, and Bhutan. Stafford was a member of the Oregon Governor's Task Force on Arts & Culture and has been a consultant to the Oregon Arts Commission. He received a Governor's Arts Award in 1998 and the Stewart H. Holbrook Literary Legacy Award from Literary Arts in 2007.
Stafford grew up in a word-friendly home, the second of four children of poet and teacher William Stafford and teacher Dorothy Stafford. In his early years, following his father's career, the family moved often, but by 1957 had settled in Lake Oswego. Stafford attended the University of Oregon, where he earned bachelor's and master's degrees in English and a doctorate in Middle English Literature. Stafford currently lives in Portland with his wife, Perrin Kerns, a teacher and filmmaker.
In May 2018, when Stafford was appointed Poet Laureate, Gov. Kate Brown wrote: "Kim Stafford is one of our state's most generous literary teachers, and I am proud to appoint him." During his two-year appointment, he is creating a series of online resources, gathering Oregon poems and pairing them with writing ideas. "I'm especially interested in Oregon poetry on local themes," he said. "I think of poetry as a very practical tool for understanding local life ... In a society of diverse backgrounds and perspectives, poetry builds community."
Kim Stafford was appointed Oregon Poet Laureate by Governor Kate Brown. The Poet Laureate program is a collaborative project of the state's five cultural partners: Oregon Arts Commission, Oregon Humanities, Oregon Heritage Commission, Oregon Historical Society, and State Historic Preservation Office, with funding from the Oregon Cultural Trust.