Biographical Info

Rena Priest is an enrolled member of the Lhaq’temish (Lummi) Nation. She served as Washington State’s 6th Poet Laureate (2021-2023). Her work has been recognized with awards and fellowships from the Allied Arts Foundation, Academy of American Poets, Indigenous Nations Poets, and University of Washington Libraries. She is the author of three books and editor of two anthologies. Her most recently published project, I Sing the Salmon Home: Poems from Washington State, features work from more than 150 poets and was a best seller on Small Press Distribution in 2023. She lives in Bellingham, Washington, on Lhaq’temish homelands. You can learn more at renapriest.com.