Diane Raptosh

Diane Raptosh (born October 14, 1961) is an American poet of Sicilian/American descent who became the first poet laureate for Boise, Idaho, in 2013, a position that was eliminated after her tenure. A self-described "noted author, poet and educator," “highly active ambassador for poetry,” and “cutting-edge advocate,” Raptosh grew up in Idaho and attended the College of Idaho in Caldwell, Idaho, earning a BA in literature and modern languages. She received an MFA in poetry from the University of Michigan,^[1] returning to teach undergraduates at the College of Idaho in 1990.^[2] She is the mother of Keats Conley, whose first book, Guidance from the Gods of Seahorses, was a finalist for the Wandering Aengus award and was published by Green Writers Press in 2021. Both mother and daughter use alliteration, assonance, and puns to craft whimsical poems.

Raptosh received three literature fellowships from the Idaho Commission on the Arts and holds the Eyck-Berringer Endowed Chair in English at the College of Idaho. In 2013, the Idaho Commission on the Arts awarded her the position of Writer-in-Residence, the highest literary honor in the entire state of Idaho.^[3]

At the College of Idaho, Raptosh teaches literature and creative writing and directs the Criminal Justice Studies program, through which Raptosh and students facilitate year-long writing workshops in prisons, jails, juvenile detention centers and safe houses throughout southeast Idaho and western Oregon, and are introduced to the study of American prison writing.^[4]

Raptosh lives in Boise, Idaho, with her family.