Photo by Troy Osaki Bringing poetry into policymaking
SEATTLE, WA – The Seattle Office of Arts & Culture (ARTS) in partnership with the Office of the Mayor, Seattle Public Library, and Seattle City of Literature announces the selection of Dujie Tahat as the 2025-2026 Seattle Civic Poet. Tahat will serve as the fifth Civic Poet in the program’s history.
An inauguration ceremony to commemorate the new term will be held at City Hall in March. Details will be announced in the coming weeks.
“Poetry is a powerful artform that captures the depth and complexities of human emotion, human experiences, and community stories. Seattle is home to some of the best poets in our nation, and in Seattle we honor our artists who inspire, challenge, and uplift our spirits,” said Mayor Bruce Harrell. “The poets that have held the Civic Poet role, and the Poet Populist role before that, have done incredible work to make poetry more accessible throughout every community in our city, opening more doors for civic engagement. I look forward to seeing how Dujie builds on this legacy during their tenure as we work to support a shared passion for the arts and artists that shape our city and culture.”
Seattle Civic Poets are selected through an open application process. ARTS and working Seattle poets review each applicant’s project proposal, conduct interviews, and make a final selection based on project quality and viability.
I’m honored to serve as Civic Poet for the city that raised me, the Town that stoked in me a love for language; that showed me a love for language is, too, a love of deep thinking and a love for the people that make you. During my tenure, I plan to bring poems into City Hall and the everyday machinery of policy making. Through conversations about poems with City electeds, citizen boards and commissions, and other civic leaders ahead of and alongside policy decisions, it’s my hope to bring us into a shared language. From there—and only there—may we begin to find the grace, mercy, and, dare I say, love needed to get us through these next few years.
– Dujie Tahat
The Seattle Civic Poet is a two-year residency and serves as a literary ambassador for Seattle, fostering community dialogue and engagement between the City, the public, and other artists, while celebrating the literary arts. Previous Civic Poets include Shin Yu Pai (2023-24), Jordan Imani Keith (2019-22), Anastacia-Renee Tolbert (2017-19), and Claudia Castro Luna (2015-17).
What People Are Saying
Seattle has a strong tradition of literature and poetry braided with civic engagement and activism. From Claudia Castro Luna’s lyrical maps of connection and displacement to Anastacia-Renee’s fearless explorations of identity and social justice, from Jourdan Imani Keith’s powerful eco-poetics of heritage and marginalization to Shin Yu Pai’s deep meditations on language and belonging, our Civic Poets have long woven literature with civic engagement, bringing their unique voices and experiences to the role. Through their poetry, they remind us to resist and persevere in the face of forces that seek to silence us. Their voices—and the voices they amplify—challenge us to protect the integrity of literature and the truths it holds. I am thrilled to know that Dujie Tahat will continue this tradition over the next couple of years as our newest Seattle Civic Poet. His appointment reminds us that poetry is not just an art form but a force for civic dialogue and transformation, something sorely needed during these challenging times.
– José Luis Montero, Seattle City of Literature Board President
Poetry is essential to a rich civic life, and Seattle’s Civic Poet role institutionalizes the importance of our shared humanity. We look forward to seeing Dujie in this role and know that their level of attention to language in our discourse can only help to make better policy that deepens enrichment throughout our city. We also acknowledge Shin Yu’s extraordinary service, and we’re grateful that the Library could participate in her Public Poetry campaign, which elevated poetry, community and joy around Seattle.
– Tom Fay, Seattle Public Library Chief Librarian
About Dujie Tahat
Dujie Tahat is a poet and critic living and working in Washington state. They are the author of three poetry chapbooks: Here I Am O My God, selected for a Poetry Society of America Chapbook Fellowship; Salat, winner of the Tupelo Press Sunken Garden Chapbook Award and longlisted for the 2020 PEN/Voelcker Award for Poetry Collection; and Balikbayan, finalist for The New Michigan Press / DIAGRAM chapbook contest and the Center for Book Arts honoree.
Dujie has earned fellowships from the National Book Critics Circle, Hugo House, Jack Straw Writing Program, and the Poetry Incubator, as well as scholarships from Bread Loaf and Sewanee Writers’ Conference. Along with Luther Hughes and Gabrielle Bates, they cohost The Poet Salon podcast. Dujie serves as Critic-at-Large for Poetry Northwest and poetry editor for Moss. They got their start as a Seattle Poetry Slam Finalist, a collegiate grand slam champion, and Seattle Youth Speaks Grand Slam Champion, representing Seattle at HBO’s Brave New Voices.
About the Seattle Civic Poet Program
Launched in 2015, the Seattle Civic Poet program is inspired by the previous Poet Populist program instituted in 1999 by former Seattle City Councilmember Nick Licata. The goal of the Poet Populist program was to support the practice of literary arts, and democracy, and to promote local literary arts organizations to a general audience citywide. The Poet Populist program was discontinued in 2008. The Civic Poet program continues the legacy of the Poet Populist program by fostering community dialogue and engagement between the public and artists while celebrating the literary arts.
