Westwood Poet Laureate Applications

The Town of Westwood's inaugural Poet Laureate is Lynne Viti, appointed  on February 27, 2023 for a term that runs through June 2025. The honorary position of Poet Laureate was established to promote and celebrate poetry in the Westwood community. 

In her application to the Poet Laureate Search Committee, Lynne wrote about her view of the role of poet laureate:

 A poet laureate—whether for the U.S. Library of Congress, a state, a city, or a small New England town—should be a tireless ambassador for poetry for people of all ages and from all backgrounds. I welcome the opportunity to bring poetry into every corner of Westwood, and to encourage citizens of all ages and backgrounds to listen to poetry at community events, and to experiment with writing their own poetry.

She has won writing prizes in the WOMR/Joe Gouveia Outermost Poetry Contest, Allen Ginsberg Poetry Contest, Fish Publishing Poetry Contest, Glimmer Train Short Fiction Contest, Grey Borders Wanted Works Contest, and the Tucson Festival of Books Literary Awards competition, and has been nominated for the Best of the Net Anthology and the Mass Book Award.  Currently, Lynne facilitates a poets-in-the-schools program and a poetry workshop at the Westwood Public Library.  She serves on the board of the New England Poetry Club, where she is coordinator of social media.

Lynne received a BA in English from Barnard College, MA from Teachers College, Columbia University, and PhD in English and JD from Boston College, where her doctoral dissertation  focused on the novels of George Eliot and Henry James.

Lynne is a lecturer emerita in the Writing Program at Wellesley College, where she taught for three decades.  Previously she taught high school English and creative writing in Connecticut, New York, and Massachusetts, and expository writing and legal studies at Brandeis University, Olin College of Engineering and Boston University.

Youth Poet Laureate 

The Town of Westwood has also established the position of Youth Poet Laureate, who will work in harmony with the town's Poet Laureate to promote and celebrate poetry in the community.  

Elizabeth Lowney, Westwood High School Class of 2026, is the current Youth Poet Laureate with a term that runs from June 1, 2024 to May 31, 2025. Her poems appear on the Westwood Library Poet Laureate website on alternate months, and she reads along with Poet Laureate Lynne Viti at selected official town events, including Westwood Day, Founding Day, and Memorial Day.

Please use the form below to contact the Poet Laureate with a question or comment.