Julia Bouwsma lives off-the-grid in the mountains of western Maine, where she is a poet, homesteader, editor, teacher, small-town librarian and Maine’s sixth Poet Laureate (2021-2026). Bouwsma is the author of two poetry collections, Midden (Fordham University Press, 2018) and Work by Bloodlight (Cider Press Review, 2017), both of which received the Maine Literary Award for Poetry Book. Other honors include the Poet’s Out Loud Prize (2016-17), the Cider Press Review Book Award (2015), and residency fellowships from the Virginia Center for Creative Arts, Vermont Studio Center, Monson Arts (Monson, ME), and Annex Arts (Castine, ME). Bouwsma’s poems and book reviews can be found in Cutthroat, Green Mountains Review, Poetry Daily, Poetry Northwest, RHINO, River Styx, and other journals. She currently serves as the Library Director for Webster Library in Kingfield, ME and teaches in the Creative Writing department at the University of Maine at Farmington.

The Maine Arts Commission announced in August, 2021 that Julia is named the Poet Laureate of Maine. The Maine State Poet Laureate position was established in 1995 by the Legislature, and each poet laureate serves for five years. The law stipulates that the poet laureate reside in Maine and have published “distinguished poetry.” Webster Library is very honored to have such an accomplished young woman as its Library Director.

Read the June, 2022 article featuring Julia in DownEast magazine.