Redmond Council interviews Nancy Mburu for poet laureate; staff to place approval on September consent agenda

The Redmond City Council interviewed Nancy Mburu on Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025, during a virtual special meeting to consider her as the city’s ninth poet laureate, and Hannah Coleman, the city’s cultural arts coordinator, said the selection panel advanced Mburu and requested the council place final approval on the September consent agenda.

The poet laureate program, Coleman said, “was established in 2008 by Ordinance 2444.” Coleman told the council a three-member selection panel — including a former state poet laureate, the current Redmond poet laureate and a member of the Redmond arts and culture commission — interviewed three finalists and advanced one candidate, Nancy Mburu, for the council’s interview and subsequent consent-agenda approval.

Nancy Mburu, introduced to the council as a performing poet and author who was born and raised in Kenya and holds a B.A. in creative writing from the University of Washington, described her approach to the role as centered on storytelling and community engagement. “I want to fall in love the same way the people who live there do,” Mburu said, describing plans to record residents’ stories, use those recordings as inspiration for poems and produce short video pieces to share the work more widely.

Council members asked about how Mburu would use poetry to engage Redmond’s diverse population and to help communities reflect after crises. “It was an honor to read your work in our packet tonight,” Council member Stewart said, asking Mburu about her connection to Redmond. Mburu said her connection has come largely through work as a communications specialist representing workers and through friendships with Redmond residents, many of whom are immigrants. She said she aims to “cast a wide net” in outreach and to meet people where they are, including addressing language and economic barriers.

Council member Nueva Camino asked how Mburu would use poetry following a climate event or during community division; Mburu replied that personal storytelling can reveal different perspectives and common ground, adding that showing “the complexity in our stories” can help people relate to one another. Council member Fields framed the role as a tool for civic engagement, asking whether Mburu saw poetry as a way to help people who don’t normally speak up feel empowered; Mburu said she was confident in engaging people across languages and life experiences.

The council did not take a vote at the special meeting. Coleman asked that the council add Mburu’s approval to the consent agenda at the September meeting; council members expressed that they looked forward to seeing Mburu in person and to hearing her work if the council moves forward with approval at that later meeting.

The interview and request to place approval on the upcoming consent agenda closed the special meeting; no formal appointment or vote occurred during this session.