Searching for a unique job? Maybe you could be Maine’s State Poet Laureate

PORTLAND, Maine — Do you have a flair for words, for writing in a specific genre, for going out and talking to people about the rewards that genre can bring to anyone?

The Maine Arts Commission might have the position for you. It’s looking for a Maine State Poet Laureate .

What does the work entail? According to the Arts Commission, the laureate should be a distinguished Maine poet who will be “charged with advancing public appreciation for poetry through community engagement, events, and projects.”

Julia Bouwsma of Kingfield and Stuart Kestenbaum know all about the rewards and responsibilities. She’s the current poet laureate, now coming to the end of her five-year term. He held the position before her.

Kestenbaum says if he tells someone he’s a poet, the reaction tends to be…meh. B