On April 27, 2020, Governor Kate Brown named Anis Mojgani the tenth Poet Laureate of Oregon.
Born in New Orleans to Black and Iranian parents, Mojgani first called Oregon home in 2004. He is the author of five books of poetry including his latest, “In the Pockets of Small Gods.” Mojgani has done commissioned work for the Getty Museum, the Peabody Essex Museum, and the Portland Timbers. He penned the libretto for the opera, “Sanctuaries,” which premiered September 2021.
His work has appeared on HBO, National Public Radio, in the Academy of American Poets Poem-A-Day series, and in the NY Times, as well as in such journals as Rattle, Platypus, Winter Tangerine, Forklift Ohio and Bat City Review.
His performance credits include hundreds of universities across the U.S. as well as international festivals such as the Sydney Writer’s Festival, Jamaica’s Calabash festival and Seoul’s Young Writer’s Festival. His audiences range from the United Nations to the House of Blues and Portland’s Pickathon music festival.