A poet in bloom
As Auburn’s poet laureate, Mateo Quispe is bringing his Canoe Poetry Nooks Project to libraries in the Auburn area and Muckleshoot Reservation.
As part of their service as the City of Auburn’s poet laureate, Mateo Quispe, ’26, commissioned a series of poetry book nooks in the shape of life-sized canoes by Indigenous carvers from the Muckleshoot Tribe. Inspired by both public art and Little Free Libraries, each nook offers a curated non-circulating selection of poetry, with an emphasis on Indigenous works, alongside books related to Coast Salish art and literature. The structures are installed in public spaces throughout Auburn, including the Muckleshoot Community Center.
Quispe shelves books in one of their canoe nooks at the Muckleshoot Community Center in Auburn.
Quispe is the youngest ever poet laureate of a city and the first openly queer and/or trans person of color to hold the position in Auburn.
Made by Muckleshoot carvers, using traditional tools and methods, each bookshelf will appear as an upright canoe with the hull decorated to reflect the particular culture of its location and inscribed with the phrase “poetry helps navigate the waters of life” alongside the Lushootseed translation.