On Wednesday, October 18th, the Maryland State Arts Council announced that Grace Cavalieri’s tenure as Poet Laureate of Maryland had ended. Cavalieri served as Poet Laureate since 2018. Throughout her literary career, she has authored 26 books and chapbooks of poetry, written 26 produced plays, and constantly uplifted the voices of other poets.
In her role as Poet Laureate, Cavalieri embarked upon projects like Teens Seen and Heard, which offered monthly poetry workshops to teenagers in Howard County, Prince George’s County, and Salisbury, Maryland. Her radio program The Poet and the Poem has featured over 2,000 poets and writers, including James J. Patterson earlier this year.
In 2017, ASP published Other Voices, Other Lives: A Grace Cavalieri Collection as part of the Legacy Series. The Legacy series honors writers who consistently publish their works in indie presses, maintain reputations in more than one genre, and champion the works of other writers. Other Voices, Other Lives includes selected poems, plays, and interviews from across Cavalieri’s literary career. As Rose Solari writes in the introduction: “Her gift for friendship and for building community is legendary, yet her attentions always feel very personal.” From all of team ASP, we honor Grace Cavalieri’s incredible contributions to the Maryland literary community!