Poet Laureate of Cookeville

Erin Hoover is the inaugural Poet Laureate of Cookeville, Tennessee, serving through December 31, 2027.

In January 2026, Hoover was named poet laureate for the City of Cookeville, an honor designated by the Cookeville Arts Council to recognize her contributions to the community’s literary and cultural life. She serves a two-year term, from January 1, 2026 through December 31, 2027 — the first time the council has established the position.

As poet laureate, Hoover hopes to expand opportunities for young people and strengthen partnerships across the community.

I want to invest in the community here. Whatever we do for poetry, I want to do it with community partners. I think that’s a good role for a poet laureate to have — bringing those pieces together.

Erin Hoover

Hoover is the author of three poetry collections — Barnburner (Elixir, 2018), No Spare People (Black Lawrence, 2023), and Consent (Black Lawrence, May 2027) — and teaches creative writing and literary editing as an associate professor of English at Tennessee Tech University.

Her public poetry work in Cookeville centres on Sawmill Poetry, the reading series she curates and hosts at Plenty Downtown Bookshop. It is free and open to the public, and brings visiting poets to the town alongside an open mic.