St. Louis City task force advances three finalists for 2025 poet laureate

The St. Louis City Poet Laureate Task Force voted Monday to advance three finalists — identified on the application spreadsheet as candidates 3, 4 and 5 — for interviews in the selection process for the 2025 St. Louis Poet Laureate.

The decision came after members agreed to use five scored rubric entries rather than six in determining finalists and to conduct interviews in public. "The big agenda item today is to have a discussion about who will move on to be our finalist," said MK Sadiq, task force member.

Why it matters: The task force is reviving the city’s poet laureateship and has emphasized transparency in the selection process. Advancing finalists and holding public interviews are the next formal steps before the task force selects the laureate.

The task force discussed process details and logistics before voting. Members reviewed a spreadsheet of anonymized scores; the top three scorers on that sheet were identified as candidates 3, 4 and 5. The group voted to use five of the scoring entries (rather than six) to determine finalists. After confirming the scoring approach, a motion to advance candidates 3, 4 and 5 carried; the task force then agreed that interviews would be open to the public.

Christine (staff member) will notify the candidates chosen for interviews and will also inform applicants who will not move forward about the reasons (for example, ineligibility for city residency or lower scores in the rubric). Task force members discussed whether to provide rubric feedback and whether reviewer names should be redacted; Christine said she would check with the board attorney about redaction.

Members discussed scheduling: Christine said she would email chosen candidates to try to schedule interviews on the next Monday and the following Monday, with a fallback date the following Wednesday. The task force also discussed holding off on notifying non-finalists in the event a finalist becomes unavailable, so that replacements can be arranged if necessary.

Quotes from the meeting came from task force members and staff. MK Sadiq said the process was meant to be transparent, noting, "This is an opportunity for us to continue to be transparent, to have a conversation in public about who our next poet laureate is." Anne Hobart, a task force member, said she was comfortable with the top three as presented. Pamela Garvey, a task force member, and Kayla McCoy, a task force member, joined the votes in favor.

Votes at a glance - Motion to use five scores (rather than six) to determine finalists — Passed (ayes recorded in meeting). - Motion to advance candidates 3, 4 and 5 as finalists for the 2025 St. Louis Poet Laureate — Passed (ayes recorded in meeting). - Motion to recess for 30 minutes and motion to approve minutes from Feb. 24 — Passed (ayes recorded in meeting). - Motion to adjourn — Passed (ayes recorded in meeting).

The task force concluded by directing staff to notify finalists and to confirm interview dates; Christine said she would send scheduling emails that evening. The task force did not select a final laureate at Monday’s meeting and will decide the laureate after the public interviews and any subsequent deliberation.