The Poet Laureate of Illinois is the poet laureate for the U.S. state of Illinois. The state's first three Poets Laureate were named at the initiative of individual governors.[1] In 2003 the title was made into a four-year renewable award.[1]
List of Poets Laureate
| # | Poet laureate | Term | Appointed by | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Howard Austin | 1936–1962 | Henry Horner | [2] |
| 2 | Carl Sandburg | 1962–1967 | Otto Kerner Jr. | [3] |
| 3 | Gwendolyn Brooks | 1968–2000 | Otto Kerner Jr. | [4][5] |
| 4 | Kevin Stein | 2003–2017 | Rod Blagojevich | [6] |
| - | John Prine | 2020 | J. B. Pritzker | Honorary title given posthumously.[7][8] |
| 5 | Angela Jackson | 2020–Present | J. B. Pritzker | [9] [10][11][12] |
