Kai Coggin, Inaugural Hot Springs Poet Laureate

In Celebration of National Poetry Month

Experience the unique voice of Kai Coggin (she/her), Inaugural Poet Laureate of the City of Hot Springs, AR and award-winning author of five poetry collections.

Join the Hot Springs Poet Laureate, Kai Coggin, as she she shares readings from her latest collection, Mother of Other Kingdoms, followed by a Q&A session. Books will be available for sale and signing following the program.

Kai Coggin is the Inaugural Poet Laureate of Hot Springs, AR, and a recipient of a 2024 Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellowship.  She is the author of five collections, most recently Mother of Other Kingdoms (Harbor Editions, 2024). Her poems have been published in POETRY, Academy of American Poets, American Poetry Review, Best of the Net, Prairie Schooner, and elsewhere. Coggin is a Certified Master Naturalist, a K-12 Teaching Artist in poetry with the Arkansas Arts Council, a CATALYZE and INTERCHANGE Grant Fellow from the Mid-America Arts Alliance, and host of the longest running consecutive weekly open mic series in the country—Wednesday Night Poetry. 

“Kai Coggin’s heart and soul shine out in every poem she writes - blazingly, brilliantly, fiercely, affectingly… I always feel in a better mood when I read anything by her.” – Naomi Shihab Nye, Young People’s Poet Laureate, Poetry Foundation 

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For disability accommodations, call 479.856.7250 or email questions@faylib.org 2-3 weekdays before a program. Plan your visit by viewing our building map and details on accessibility services.

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