Austin has now joined the ranks of Texas cities who have a designated poet laureate.
The Austin Public Library announced yesterday that poet/theatre artist Zell Miller III has officially been chosen for the position. During the two-year term – which will run from April 2025 to April 2027 – Miller will serve as an ambassador of Austin Public Library’s mission of promoting literary arts and be responsible for establishing poetry and literacy-related events, such as public readings and workshops. The poet laureate’s goal is to use poetry as a means to convey Austin’s culture and history.
An Austin native, Zell Miller III is a poet and performer whose jazz aesthetic performance style dives deep into themes of identity and culture, especially from the lens of his own personal experiences. Playing on the title of writer-activist James Baldwin’s Notes of a Native Son, Miller’s 2023 Hyde Park Theatre production, Chronicles of an Indigenous Offspring, recounted the creative’s upbringing in Austin as a Black man during the segregated Seventies. The 2008 Chronicle cover star was named Best Author/Poet in our 2004 Best of Austin Reader’s Poll.
Local author KB Brookins launched a public campaign for Austin to initiate a poet laureate program in 2024, following in the footsteps of other major Texas cities like Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio who already had such an initiative. He and Amanda Johnston, the state of Texas’ poet laureate, celebrated the program’s creation by Austin City Council with the event “Austin Is a Poem” in September.
This article appears in March 14 • 2025.