Oregon Poet Laureate Visits Lincoln City 

(LINCOLN CITY, Ore.)—(October, 19, 2026)—Oregon’s Poet Laureate, Ellen Waterston, will present two upcoming events at the Lincoln City Cultural Center. ‘At a Loss for Words’  is an opportunity for the public to join Oregon Poet Laureate Ellen Waterston for a free event at the Lincoln City Cultural Center. The event will include a presentation and time for audience Q&A. No RSVP is required, though seating is limited to a first-come first-serve basis.  

Prior to the public event, Ellen Waterson will lead a poetry workshop at the Cultural Center. Rewilding Words will give fifteen participants the opportunity to join Oregon Poet Laureate Ellen Waterston in exploring the origin, sound, color, meaning and power of words…while reckoning what their ongoing loss portends about our capacity for relationship to place and one another. Supplemented with handouts and using a variety of in-class approaches, this workshop will return writers of poetry and prose to the page with renewed commitment and inspiration. Registration is required for this workshop, with limited spaces available for participation. To learn more about registering, visit https://app.arts-people.com/index.php?show=369947. 

Ellen Waterston was named to a two-year appointment as Oregon's eleventh poet laureate by Governor Tina Kotek in August 2024, and reappointed to a second term in April 2026. Waterston is a celebrated poet/writer, teacher and speaker who lives in Bend. Much of her award-winning poetry and prose is inspired by the remote reaches of southeastern Oregon’s Outback. She has published four poetry titles: “I Am Madagascar, Between Desert Seasons,” “Vía Lactéa” and “Hotel Domilocos,” as well as three award-winning literary nonfiction titles: “Walking the High Desert,” “Where the Crooked River Rises,” and “Then There Was No Mountain.” 

In addition to her work as an author, Waterston founded the for-profit Writing Ranch, offering retreats and workshops for established and emerging writers. She founded the Waterston Desert Writing Prize, annually recognizing a nonfiction book proposal that examines the role of deserts in the human narrative, now a program of The High Desert Museum. She has instructed creative writing at high school and undergraduate levels and authored the original feasibility study for OSU Cascades Low Residency MFA in Creative Writing, where she now teaches. 

The Poet Laureate program is a collaborative project of the state's five statewide cultural partners, Oregon Arts Commission, Oregon Heritage Commission, Oregon Historical Society, Oregon Humanities, and the State Historic Preservation Office. The program is funded by the Oregon Cultural Trust and managed by Oregon Humanities. More information and program history can be found at http://www.oregonpoetlaureate.org/. 

About the Lincoln City Cultural Center 

The LCCC celebrates arts, culture, and community on Oregon’s central coast, hosting a year-round lineup of concerts, theater, festivals, markets, and more. Located in the historic Delake School building, the center is a creative hub for locals and visitors alike. Learn more at lincolncity-culturalcenter.org. 

Lincoln City Cultural Center 

540 NE Hwy 101 

Lincoln City, Oregon 97367    

541-994-9994