Author! Author! -- Ellen Waterston

Ellen Waterston was named Oregon Poet Laureate in August 2024 for a two-year term. A New Englander who moved to the ranching West, much of Waterston’s prose and poetry is inspired by the remote reaches of southeastern Oregon’s Outback. Waterston has published four collections of poetry and three nonfiction titles. Her latest book is We Could Die Doing This, a collection of essays. She is the recipient of the Stewart H. Holbrook Award and the Soapstone Bread and Roses Award, as well as winner of the Obsidian Prize in Poetry and two-time winner of the WILLA Award in Poetry. In addition to her work as an author, Waterston founded the for-profit Writing Ranch and two literary arts nonprofits. Waterston lives in Bend, Oregon.