Estella Lauter Selected as Door County Poet Laureate

Estella Lauter (far right) was appointed the Door County Poet Laureate 2013 – 2015 at a recent meeting of the Door County Board of Supervisors. Barbara Larsen, former Door County Poet Laureate, and Dan Austad, Door County Board Chairperson, were in attendance to congratulate Lauter.

Estella Lauter of Fish Creek was appointed Door County Poet Laureate for 2013 – 2015 at the March 26 meeting of the Door County Board of Supervisors. The position was established in Oct. 2010; Francis May, honored posthumously, was selected as the first county poet laureate. Lauter follows Barbara Larsen of Sister Bay, the first living person to be appointed.

Lauter is active in the Door County poetry community. In 2004, Lauter retired from the University of Wisconsin system with 32 years of service. She moved to Door County where she pens poetry and teaches classes in The Clearing’s winter program. She recently organized the annual Door County Poets Retreat weekend at Björklunden where former Wisconsin Poet Laureate, Bruce Dethlefsen, conducted a workshop on poetry revision techniques.

Lauter’s published works include The Essential Rudder: North Channel Poems and Pressing a Life Together by Hand. Her work also appears regularly in editions of the Wisconsin Poets’ Calendar and Peninsula Pulse.

Lauter is readying a manuscript for publication about Mexican visual artist Remedios Varo (1908-1963), Transfigurations: Re-imagining Remedios Varo, scheduled for release in August.