Governor Kehoe Declares Justin Hamm as Missouri Poet Laureate

OCTOBER 1, 2025

Jefferson City — Today, Governor Mike Kehoe introduced the appointment of Justin Hamm, of Mexico, because the Missouri Poet Laureate for 2025-2027.

Mr. Hamm presently serves as the varsity librarian at Eugene Field Elementary in Mexico and is the creator of 5 books of poetry and several other particular person works, which regularly draw inspiration from Missouri’s individuals and landscapes, and have appeared in journals and anthologies nationwide. In addition to his writing, he’s a photographer whose award-winning hybrid poetry and pictures exhibit, Midwestern, toured all through the Midwest between 2018 and 2020. Hamm holds a bachelor’s diploma in English from MacMurray College and a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Southern Illinois University. 

“I’m deeply honored to be named the next Poet Laureate of Missouri. I look forward to serving the people of this state and repaying poetry for the countless ways it has shaped and steadied my life,” stated Mr. Hamm. “For years I’ve tried to let my poems testify that Missouri is a place rich in story and worthy of literary attention. As Poet Laureate, I hope to uplift the voices of our state’s poets higher, and to remind everyday Missourians that poetry isn’t some distant art but a living thing—and it belongs to anyone with a heart that yearns for connection.”

The Poet Laureate program, created in 2008 and administered by the Missouri Arts Council, enriches the lives of Missourians by fostering the artwork of poetry statewide. Through public appearances, readings, workshops, digital and social media, the Poet Laureate helps elevate poetry in faculties, communities, and cultural areas. 

Hamm’s two-year time period as Missouri Poet Laureate begins October 1, 2025, and runs by means of September 30, 2027. He succeeds David L. Harrison of Springfield, who served from July 2023 by means of September 2025.

Governor Kehoe chosen Hamm from amongst public nominations reviewed by the Missouri Poet Laureate Committee, composed of earlier Poets Laureate David L. Harrison, Maryfrances Wagner, Karen Craigo, Aliki Barnstone, William Trowbridge, and Walter Bargen.

About the Missouri Arts Council 

The Missouri Arts Council gives help to nonprofit organizations by means of grants that meet its strategic targets: 1) have interaction individuals in significant arts experiences, 2) develop Missouri’s economic system utilizing the humanities, 3) strengthen Missouri schooling by means of the humanities. Missouri Arts Council funding makes high quality arts programming potential in communities statewide. The Council additionally gives experience in neighborhood growth, fundraising, advertising, grant writing, arts schooling, and inventive disciplines (visible arts, music, literature, theater, dance, festivals, and movie/media).

Established as a state company in 1965, the Missouri Arts Council is a division of the Office of the Lieutenant Governor. The Council is funded by means of the Missouri General Assembly, Missouri Cultural Trust, and National Endowment for the Arts. 

CONTACT:  Barbara MacRobie, public info coordinator, [email protected], 314-340-6852, www.missouriartscouncil.org 

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