Presenting Coeur d'Alene's first poet laureate: Jennifer Passaro

Coeur d'Alene has created a poet laureate program.

The first wordsmith to embark upon this poetic journey is Jennifer Passaro, a 36-year-old Coeur d'Alene mom with a heart for literature and her community. 

“I feel deeply honored for this opportunity," Passaro said Oct. 17.

Coeur d'Alene is the second Idaho city to establish a poet laureate position, although writers-in-residence programs exist throughout the state.

"We live in a community that is surrounded by a rich poetic culture," Passaro said. "We have poet laureates for Spokane, for Moscow. I just feel like it's an opportunity to bring to our community something that is vibrant."

Passaro studied English and creative writing at the University of Montana and graduated with a bachelor's degree in 2011. She worked as a reporter for the Coeur d'Alene Press from November 2019 to June 2020 and has continued to embrace and celebrate the written and spoken word.

She said one of her goals in this new position is to try to share this form of expression with members of what are considered to be vulnerable populations.

"Poetry is a place where people can be vulnerable and be vulnerable in community," Passaro said. "I’d like to bring more poetry into the Kootenai County jail, nursing homes and assisted living facilities, expand into hospice programs and work with the homeless populations."

The poet laureate program was created through the Coeur d'Alene Arts Commission following a call for applicants in July and with approval by the Coeur d'Alene City Council in September. The goal of the poet laureate is to increase awareness of how poetry and literature play a role in the community and to establish a record of Coeur d’Alene’s distinctive character.

In a three-year term that will be paid with a $1,500-per-year stipend, Passaro will write original works that are reflective of Coeur d'Alene and its local landscapes, social situations and important events. Those works will be entered into the city's public art collection. She will give local readings and raise awareness of poetry and literary arts through outreach, education and other programs.

Passaro said she is expecting to begin making public appearances early in 2025.

"Words have the power to heal us, to hold us, to bring what is lost alive and to create the world we want to live in," Passaro said, sharing what she wrote in her application for the position.

"I believe everyone has the agency to articulate themselves through poetry and deserves space to be vulnerable," she said. "The process of poetry is so supple we can often work past our edges, first as individuals and then as community.”