Dawn Potter, a poet and teacher from Portland, was named Maine’s seventh poet laureate on Friday.

Potter was announced as the next state poet laureate at the State House in Augusta, during an event marking National Poetry Month. She’ll replace the current laureate, Julia Bouwsma, of New Portland, who works as a library director in Kingfield.

Potter directs poetry and teaching programs at Monson Arts, near Moosehead Lake, and offers online poetry classes through The Poetry Kitchen. She’s been the author or editor of ten books of prose and poetry and was a finalist for the National Poetry Series. She’ll assume the duties of poet laureate July 1.

In announcing the appointment Friday, Gov. Janet Mills said that Potter’s experience as a poet and educator makes “her well-prepared to connect Maine people of all ages with this timeless art form.” Potter, appearing at the event with Bouwsma, said she hoped to continue the tradition of the six people who were Maine’s poets laureate before her.

 “All six of my predecessors have been a part of my education in poetry,” Potter said in a release announcing her appointment. “All have shown me what it means to be an ambassador for the art, and I hope I can carry their example forward.”

The State Poet Laureate was created in 1995 as an honorary position to promote the appreciation of poetry throughout the state and advocate for poetry, literacy and literature. Finalists for the position are recommended to the governor by the Maine Arts Commission, and each is appointed for a five-year term.

The criteria for the position requires that the candidate lives in Maine and has published “distinguished poetry.” The laureate travels across the state for readings and events and Bouwsma set a personal goal to visit all 16 counties during her term. The poet laureate gets a stipend of $5,000 a year from the Maine Arts Commission.

Besides Potter and Bouwsma, the other State Poet Laureates were: Stuart Kestenbaum, 2016-2020; Wes McNair, 2011-2015; Betsy Sholl, 2006-2010; Baron Wormser, 2000-2005 and Kate Barnes, 1996-1999.

Potter’s memoir “Tracing Paradise: Two Years in Harmony with John Milton,” received a Maine Literary Award in Nonfiction. Her work has appeared in Beloit Poetry Journal, The Sewanee Review, The Threepenny Review, The Times Literary Supplement and many other publications. She’s served as a visiting writer at Smith College and Endicott College and works as a manuscript consultant and freelance editor for literary and academic presses.

The event at the Maine State House on Friday included readings by more than 30 Maine poets and performances by high school students who participated in this year’s Maine Poetry Out Loud competition. The event was hosted by the Maine Arts Commission.