Grace Carrender named 2024-2025 Student Poet Laureate

Written by Ella Shelburn

Every spring, the University of Indianapolis selects a student poet laureate, who reads five original poems during important school events throughout the next academic year and receives a stipend for their work. For this academic year, the title of UIndy Student Poet Laureate was awarded to current senior Grace Carrender. 

“[The title of UIndy Student Poet Laureate] is a UIndy-scale version of other poet laureate roles — there’s an Indiana Poet Laureate (currently Curtis Crisler), for example, as well as a National Poet Laureate (currently Ada Limón): poet laureates compose poems to celebrate or commemorate significant events,” said Dr. Jen Camden, English professor and Associate Chair of the English Department. 

Carrender is studying secondary English education with a minor in Spanish and an Honors concentration. Her poetry has been published in Etchings, the University’s literary magazine, and she has also received the Lucy Munro Booker Poetry Award in 2024. With this title of poet laureate, Carrender is happy to share her work and improve her writing, and she has already read one of her poems at the University’s convocation ceremony. 

“I am so grateful and honored to have been named this year’s poet laureate,” said Carrender. “It has provided me with the opportunity to work on my writing and create pieces for events such as UIndy’s convocation this past summer. I love sharing my work with others and experiencing the sense of community and closeness that reading and listening to poetry can bring.”