Ina Donna Coolbrith was an American poet, writer, librarian, and a prominent figure in the San Francisco Bay Area literary community. Called the "Sweet Singer of California", she was the first California Poet Laureate and the first poet laureate of any American state.
Ina Coolbrith in the 1880s
Coolbrith in her youth
Coolbrith in San Francisco at the age of 29 or 30
Joaquin Miller in the 1870s
A poet laureate is a poet officially appointed by a government or conferring institution, typically expected to compose poems for special events and occasions. Albertino Mussato of Padua and Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch) of Arezzo were the first to be crowned poets laureate after the classical age, respectively in 1315 and 1342. In Britain, the term dates from the appointment of Bernard André by Henry VII of England. The royal office of Poet Laureate in England dates from the appointment of John Dryden in 1668.
A depiction of Torquato Tasso from a German encyclopedia, 1905. Note the laurel crown.
Toronto's Poet Laureate George Elliott Clarke who later became Parliamentary Poet Laureate of Canada
Tsegaye Gabre-Medhin of Ethiopia
Mohammad-Taqi Bahar poet laureate of Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar.