As my time as Poet Laureate of Kansas is coming to an end here in 2026, I had one final chance to bring poetry back to the State Fair.
This year, I knew I wanted to bring poems by young Kansans to the Fair in both posters placed around the Fair and for a reading on one of the stages.
We called this year “There’s No Place Like Home: Poems by Kansas Families” because almost everyone who had a poem at the Fair also invited a friend or family member to submit poems as well.
In a state of 105 counties that can feel very spread out, I loved to see the net of connections that tied everyone together.
One young writer from Waubunsee county wrote a poem about washing goats, and her best friend wrote a poem about making quilts with her grandma. When one friend couldn’t make it, the other read both poems aloud so they both had a chance to be heard.
Siblings in Johnson county wrote poems about cotton candy and a night at the Fair. A mother and daughter wrote poems about sunflowers and sunsets. Three generations of writers in one family were also featured, with their poems covering the prairie, stormy skies, and Kansas bouquets.
And the young writers of K-State English professors were also featured at the event! Poems by the children of Dr. Wendy Matlock, Dr. Philip Marzluf, and Dr. Anne Longmuir appeared at the Fair.
My own son wrote — by my request — haiku about the glories of butter.
All poems are archived online at https://www.kansascommerce.gov/program/poet-laureate/state-fair-poems/.
I hope future laureates do what they can to continue to bring poems to the State Fair so people who attend to ride rides and eat funnel cakes might also stumble across a poem and think about how lucky they are to live in a place full of sunflowers and sunsets, brisket and apple cider, family and friends.
— Traci Brimhall, University Distinguished Professor / Poet Laureate of Kansas
