Rochester resident named city's new Poet Laureate

Katie O'Connor (Courtesy photo)

ROCHESTER - Rochester will have its first Poet Laureate in three years come Feb. 7 when Katie O'Connor begins her stint at the coveted position, City Manager Manager Daniel Fitzpatrick announced in a press release today.

O'Connor, a Rochester resident, will be formally recognized during the City Council meeting that Tuesday at 7 p.m., where she will read some of her work and introduce herself to the Council. The meeting is open to the public.

"I am increasingly impressed by the level of appreciation for the arts that I have seen in Rochester," O'Connor said. "I thank the City for the appointment and look forward to serving as Poet Laureate to further enrich the community."

As Poet Laureate, O'Connor will work to make poetry more accessible to the Rochester community by developing public poetry projects and events. She hopes to establish and facilitate writing workshops, groups, and readings for Rochester residents and members of surrounding communities. She will also serve on Rochester's Arts and Culture Commission, which seeks to promote public appreciation of the vital contribution of the arts and culture to the community's quality of life.

O'Connor, a New York native, recently settled in Rochester after obtaining her Master of Fine Arts in Poetry from the University of New Hampshire. Her work has recently appeared in "The Fourth River," "Stone Canoe," "Paper Nautilus," "So to Speak," "Arsenic Lobster," and the "Santa Ana River Review," among other publications. She is also a former poetry editor of the online literary journal "Barnstorm."

She is currently employed as a full-time technical editor at a private fire investigation company headquartered in Rochester.

"We are pleased to crown Katie as our Poet Laureate and I am confident that she will bring a better focus and vision to our community arts," City Manager Fitzpatrick said. "I look forward to working with her and further welcoming her family into the fabric of Rochester."