University of Washington Libraries is pleased to announce Rena Priest as the 2022 Maxine Cushing Gray Distinguished Writing Fellow. Rena Priest is a Poet and an enrolled member of the Lhaq’temish (Lummi) Nation. She has been appointed to serve as the Washington State Poet Laureate for the term of April 2021-2023. She is a Vadon Foundation Fellow, and recipient of an Allied Arts Foundation Professional Poets Award. Her debut collection, Patriarchy Blues was published by MoonPath Press and received an American Book Award. She is a National Geographic Explorer (2018-2020) and a Jack Straw Writer (2019). She holds an MFA from Sarah Lawrence College.

UW Libraries looks forward to hosting Rena at our Maxine Cushing Gray Distinguished Lecture on Tuesday, October 18, 2022, 6-7pm via zoom. Rena will share a reading followed by a conversational interview with UW Tacoma Professor Danica Miller (Puyallup), with an opportunity for audience questions afterward. Registration opens September 9th.