2025 Dutchess County Poet Laureate

Ruth Danon

  • Ruth Danon’s fourth book of poetry, Turn Up the Heat, was published by Nirala Series in 2023. Her prose and poetry have appeared in many publications in the United States and abroad, most recently in On the Seawall, Noon: The Journal of the Short Poem,Sunday Salon Zine, The Nu Review, and TheCAPS 25th Anniversary Anthology.  Her work is forthcoming in Pratik, The Beltway Quarterly,  and the Poetry is Bread Anthology, She has performed her poetry across the United States and abroad and has appeared in many podcasts and zoom readings For 23 years she taught in the Creative and Expository Writing Programs she designed and directed for NYU’s School of Professional Studies.  Founder of Live Writing: A Project for the Reading, Writing, and Performance of Poetry, she teaches for Live Writing and New York Writers Workshop. A Bard College graduate, she now lives in Beacon, NY, where she curates literary events and works to create a community of poets. She was one of the founding curators of the BeaconLitfest@the Howland. More about her and her poetry and career can be found at https://www.ruthdanon.com/

Upcoming Events

  • Open Mic Night with Special Guest Ruth Danon

    At Millbrook Library, 3 Friendly Lane, Millbrook, NY

    Share your original or borrowed music, poetry, or performance at the library’s Open Mic Night. This month we welcome featured performer, Dutchess County Poet Laureate, Ruth Danon.


    Date: Wednesday July 9, 2025
    Time: 6:30-8:00 pm 

  • Laureates and Friends

    At Howland Cultural Center, 477 Main Street, Beacon, NY

    Three Poets Laureate and Three Friends read their work. This event introduces the three new Poets Laureate from Dutchess, Ulster, and Rockland County along with three poets who are the “friends” of this evening’s event. Poets are: Ruth Danon, Mike Jurkovic, Juan Mobili, Catherine Gonick, Jordan Davis, Mary Lou Buschi.

    Date: Saturday, July 26, 2025
    Time: 7:00 p.m.

Previous Poet Laureates