Vashon’s 2015-17 poets laureate will be announced today, July 15, at a celebration from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Vashon Winery.

Native islander Annie Brulé, founder of Chatwin Books Publishing, will host the event, which will begin with the new honorees reading their poetry. The rest of the evening will include an open mic, and audience members are encouraged to bring their own poems to read.

Island poet Cal Kinnear, in a recent email, described the short history of poet laureates on Vashon. According to Kinnear, the honor dates back to May of 2011, when the all-poet organizing committee of that year’s Vashon Poetry Festival spontaneously named Ann Spiers poet laureate of Vashon.

Since Spiers’ first term, the two-year accolade has been held by Ina Whitlock and also by the youth poets laureate duo of Zauxie Sackman and Lily Robinthal. All three poets have distinctive styles and ideas for engaging the community in poetic dialogue.

New poets laureate are named bi-annually by an ad-hoc committee of island poets dedicated to community engagement in the poetic arts.

For more information, contact Ron Irvine of Vashon Winery at vashonwinery@yahoo.com.