Kai Coggin is the Inaugural Poet Laureate of the City of Hot Springs, and author of five collections, most recently Mother of Other Kingdoms (Harbor Editions 2024). She is a certified master naturalist, a K-12 teaching artist with the Arkansas Arts Council, and host of the longest running consecutive weekly open mic series in the country Wednesday Night Poetry. Recently awarded the Don Munro Leadership in the Arts Award, a M-AAA Catalyze grant, the 2021 Governor’s Arts Award, and twice named “Best Poet in Arkansas” by the Arkansas Times, Kai lives with her wife in a wildlife sanctuary.