Poetry

Angela Trudell Vasquez (Poet Laureate, Jan. 20, 2020 – Jan. 14, 2024) is a poet, writer, editor and publisher. She holds a Master of Fine Arts in poetry from the Institute of American Indian Arts. She has several published collections of poetry, including My People Redux (2022, Finishing Line Press), In Light, Always Light (2019, Finishing Line Press), Through This Door (2020, Art Night Press, anthology of Wisconsin poetry with Margaret Rozga, then poet laureate for the state of Wisconsin). She has served as the Chair of the Wisconsin Poet Laureate Commission, is a Macondo Writers Workshop Fellow ( Macondista) and recipient of the 2021 Creative Community Champion Award from Arts Wisconsin and the League of Wisconsin Municipalities.

During her tenure as Poet Laureate, Trudell Vasquez established Madison's Youth Poet Laureate program (the first such program in the State of Wisconsin); she also published chap books of youth poetry and continued the Bus Lines poetry program.

Oscar Mireles (Poet Laureate, Jan. 18, 2016 – Jan. 19, 2020) was Madison's first Latinx Poet Laureate. He is a published poet and editor. Mireles' poetry has been published in over 50 different publications. He is the editor of several anthologies in the series I Didn't Know There Were Latinos in Wisconsin (Focus Communications). Mireles has received grants for his writing from the Wisconsin Arts Board, Dane County Cultural Affairs Commission, Wisconsin Humanities Committee, Wisconsin 150th Sesquicentennial Commission, Madison Civic Center Foundation and Wisconsin Center for the Book. He is a Vermont Studio Center fellow.

During his tenure, Mireles expanded the Bus Lines poetry program to include Spanish-language poems, created a Parking Ticket Poetry project for April Fool's Day, and started the professional networking event Art Party Madison.

Sarah Busse and Wendy Vardaman (Co-Poets Laureate Jan. 16., 2012 - Jan. 18, 2016) were co-editors of the poetry magazine, “Verse Wisconsin" which showcased the excellence and diversity of poetry rooted in or related to Wisconsin. Their work connected Wisconsin's poets to each other and to the larger literary world, fostered critical conversations about poetry, and built and invigorated the audience for poetry.

Fabu Phillis Carter (Poet Laureate Jan. 21, 2007 - Jan. 16, 2012) professionally known as Fabu, began writing at the age of eleven and has continued to create poetry throughout her adult life. Fabu holds a double Master's degree from UW–Madison and a PhD in African Studies from the University of Nairobi, Kenya. Fabu is the author of several books and an active public lecturer, workshop leader, poetry columnist, and storyteller. She is also a founding member of The Hibiscus Collective, a group of Madison women writers.

During her tenure, Fabu started the Bus Lines Program, which was initially a competition for Madison Area High School Students. In the first year, 27 poems were placed on Metro Transit buses, enhancing the rides of thousands of public transit passengers.

Andrea Musher (Poet Laureate Nov. 2000 - Dec. 31, 2007) received a BA cum laude from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York (Major: English, Minor: Theater Arts) where she studied with the poets, William Matthews and A.R. Ammons. Both her M.A. and Ph.D. are from UW-Madison where she took and then taught some of the first classes offered in Women's Studies. Her Ph.D. Thesis is titled Vital Connection: The Poetics of Maternal Affiliation in the Poetry of Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton, Adrienne Rich, Lucille Clifton and Judy Grahn. Musher was an Associate Professor at UW-Whitewater in the Department of Languages and Literatures and the Department of Women's Studies.

During her tenure, Musher was responsible for formalizing the Poet Laureate position. She supported the resolution that recognized the role, which passed at the January 8, 2008 Common Council Meeting.

John Tuschen (Poet Laureate 1922-2000) was born in Chicago in 1949. He attended the University of Wisconsin, Madison where he obtained a Bachelor of Science in Rehabilitation Psychology and a Master of Science in Rehabilitative Psychology. Tuschen worked as a Chemical Abuse Specialist/Psychotherapist. He was co-director and publicist for the "Fat Rap & Jazz" music and poetry series, Critic for The Daily Cardinal and contributing writer for the first Isthmus newspapers. He received numerous grants, scholarships, and awards for his literary work.