Jaiden Dokken
Meet Jaiden Dokken, the first Clallam County Poet Laureate!
Jaiden Dokken (they/them) is a local writer, printmaker, ceramicist, cidermaker, and self-described highly persistent penpal. Dokken’s work has been published in Fiction International, Algorithm, Muses and Vices, SpeakEasy, Superfroot Magazine, and Pile Press. They are an editor and reader for Perennial Press.
Experiences unique to the North Olympic Peninsula resonate in poems by Jaiden, who grew up in Sequim and returned to live there as an adult. As Poet Laureate, they will bring poetry to residents across Clallam County by participating in events, leading workshops, and championing the community power of the written and spoken word.
Jaiden will serve as the Clallam County Poet Laureate from April 2023 through March 2025.
Jaiden Dokken
Community poetry opportunities
Email Jaiden at poetlaureate@nols.org to share your ideas about how you’d like to bring poetry to your community in Clallam County and to collaborate on events like poetry readings, workshops and interactive experiences. Events with the Poet Laureate should be free and open to the public, with the exception of school or corrections facility visits.
Please allow time for Jaiden to review and respond to your email request, typically within two weeks. Demand for the Poet Laureate can be high, and they will balance requests across the county.
For general questions about the Poet Laureate program, please email poetryprograms@nols.org. To contact the Poet Laureate directly, email poetlaureate@nols.org.
Spring Poetry Night
Aldrich’s Market (940 Lawrence St., Port Townsend):
Friday, April 26, 6-8pm
A free evening of music and poetry hosted by Conner Bouchard-Roberts, Port Townsend Poet Laureate.
Art, Angst & Acoustic: Open Mic
Forks Branch Library: Third Tuesdays, alternating months, 6:30-8pm
Next Event Date: May 21
Share acoustic music and performance art. The Forks Branch Library and Rainforest Council for the Arts have partnered to provide "Art, Angst & Acoustic: Open Mic" for your self-expression.
Haikus From Here: Submit Poems!
Ongoing
Submit haiku poems to Poet Laureate Jaiden Dokken for an opportunity to be published in a Haikus From Here zine!
Take A Poem & Leave A Poem
Ongoing, 2024
Hurricane Coffee, 104 W Washington St, Sequim
Take a poem and leave a poem at this creative space designed with Clallam County Poet Laureate Jaiden Dokken.
Past Events
with Clallam County Poet Laureate, Jaiden Dokken.
Poetry Reading & Workshop
Wednesday, March 6, 2024, Community Hall in Neah Bay
Jaiden provided a special poetry reading, open mic, and workshop for students and community members, co-sponsored by the Neah Bay Chamber of Commerce.
Outdoor Poetry Reading
Wednesday, February 28, 2024, Carrie Blake Park, Sequim
Jaiden hosted an outdoor poetry reading at the Carrie Blake Park picnic shelter. Participants brought poetry to share.
Acrostic Poetry Writing Challenge
February 2024, Poetry submitted via email
Community members were invited to write a “February” acrostic poem for this challenge. A prize winner was randomly drawn from all poetry submissions.
The Poet Laureate will serve a two-year term, bringing poetry to residents of the county by participating in events, leading workshops, and championing the community power of the written and spoken word throughout Clallam County. The term begins in April 2023 and runs through March 2025.
A major goal of the Clallam County Poet Laureate program is to use poetry to bring a variety of voices and perspectives to culturally diverse audiences throughout the county, and to bring communities together through poetry. Poetry helps us to see, understand and think about our community and our world through a different lens and challenges us to reconsider the common ties that bind us together.
This position comes with an annual stipend of $5,000 ($10,000 total), funded by Clallam County, in recognition of the appointed poet’s time and energy in participating in or hosting events as well as to support the poet’s craft and practice.
Clallam County Poet Laureate Inauguration
Watch the inauguration of Clallam County’s first Poet Laureate! Featuring opening remarks from County Commissioner Mark Ozias and a poetry reading from Jaiden Dokken. Event took place on Tuesday, April 18 at the Port Angeles Main Library.
Clallam County Poet Laureate Recommends
