Elizabeth Austen
Every Dress a Decision book cover author Elizabeth Austen

Elizabeth Austen

Austen is the Washington State Poet Laureate for 2014-16. Her debut collection Every Dress a Decision was a finalist for the Washington State Book Award. She’s also the author of two chapbooks, The Girl Who Goes Alone and Where Currents Meet. Her poems have been featured on The Writer’s Almanac and Verse Daily and in Poetry Northwest, Bellingham Review and Willow Springs. She is noted for her engaging public performances of poetry and has been featured at Poets House in New York City, Minneapolis’s The Loft, the Skagit River Poetry Festival, Spokane’s Get Lit!, Seattle’s Cheap Wine and Poetry and the Hugo Literary Series, among others. She earned an MFA in Poetry at Antioch University Los Angeles. Elizabeth produces poetry programming for NPR-affiliate KUOW 94.9, and makes her living at Seattle Children’s Hospital, where she also offers poetry and reflective writing workshops for the staff.