Rockford names 2025 Poet Laureate, Youth Poet

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — The City of Rockford, the Rockford Area Arts Council, and the Rockford Public Library have named a new Poet Laureate and Youth Poet for 2025.

Lydia Kozlowski has been named as the 2024-2025 Poet Laureate. According to a press release, “Lydia brings a unique perspective to her work, deeply influenced by her heritage as the daughter of Polish immigrants. She views the world through this lens, allowing her poetry to explore themes of identity, language, and cultural connection. As Poet Laureate, Lydia has an exciting vision for amplifying diverse voices in the community. One of her key initiatives will be to curate and showcase poems by local women, incorporating multilingual works, translations, and code-switching to celebrate the richness of language and expression.”

Kozlowski, a graduate of Boylan Catholic High School, has had her work published in The Finger Literary Magazine and Spoon River Poetry Review. Her poem, Black Out at the White Eagle, will be featured in the forthcoming Rockford Anthology.

Autumn Rose Smith was named as the 2025 Youth Poet. Smith is currently a junior at Boylan, and had her first poem published in Futures, a book by Appelley Publishing, while she was in the 4th Grade.

She has twice been recognized in the school’s Annual Poetry Contest, and has been published seven times.