Julia Bouwsma

Julia Bouwsma (born 1980) is an American poet, educator, and librarian. She is the author of the poetry collections Work by Bloodlight and Midden (2018), both of which received Maine Literary Award for Poetry in consecutive years. She is the current Poet Laureate of Maine.

Early life and education Bouwsma was born in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1980. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Swarthmore College and later completed a Master of Fine Arts at Goddard College.

Books

Bouwsma has published three poetry collections. Her debut, Work by Bloodlight (2017), draws on homesteading and rural labor, while Midden (2018) addresses the forced eviction of the Malaga Island community in Maine. Both collections received the Maine Literary Award for Poetry.

Bouwsma has received numerous honors for her work, including Fordham University Press's Poets Out Loud Prize (2016–2017), the Cider Press Review Book Award (2015), and writing residencies from the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Vermont Studio Center, Monson Arts, and Annex Arts in Castine, Maine. Work by Bloodlight 2017 Cider Press Review Winner of Cider Press Review Book Award (2015, manuscript) Winner of the Maine Literary Award for Poetry.

Poet Laureate

In 2021, Bouwsma was appointed Maine's sixth poet laureate. As poet laureate, she has emphasized poetry as a tool for accessibility, dialogue, and connection across Maine's geographically and culturally diverse communities, with particular attention to rural regions. The project began as a pilot program in 2023, serving five counties through poetry workshops and a correspondence exchange involving more than 150 participants. This helped expand her Write ME project into a statewide initiative, offering free public workshops across all 16 Maine counties during the winter of 2024–2025.

Personal life

Bouwsma lives off-grid in New Portland, Maine, where she homesteads and works as library director of Webster Library in Kingfield.

Bouwsma has described her homesteading practice as an influence on her poetry.