Our 2025-27 Poets Laureate

Nico Moore
​Kenosha Poet Laureate

Nico Moore is a poet, spoken word artist, hip hop artist, musician, fashion designer, and educator, Who also goes by the name Speak Free when sharing art. Born in Racine and raised in Kenosha, Nico found his existing love of performing expanded into the world of musical theatre during his time at Bradford High School and went on to study theater at UW-Parkside and Columbia College Chicago. As a teenager, Nico began writing poetry as a way of healing and processing the world. Poems became spoken word and spoken word became songs and songs became mantras and prayers. He spent the last 20 years using these creative expressions as connection points for community engagement, education, personal growth and healing and a foundation to build a life upon. You'll find him locally where he has been a featured performer at Bonk!, Grassroots open mics, the Kenosha African American Read In, UW-Parkside's MLK Celebration and more, in addition to his work in the greater Midwest. He has hosted countless open mics, organized events, facilitated community conversations, and more, but most of all is a devoted and loving father and son. Most recently, he has been able to travel the country sharing his creative expression and bringing people together.

Thomas Carr
​Racine Poet Laureate

Thomas D. Carr, PhD, is a vertebrate paleontologist who started as a professor of biology at Carthage College in 2004, where he runs an internationally respected undergraduate paleontology program. Thomas began writing poetry as a teenager, and started attending open mics during the last year of his doctoral program. While at Carthage he published several poems in Centrique, the college's arts magazine. Thomas recently was a featured poet at open mics hosted by Family Power Music's Grassroots open mic (Racine), and Linneman's Poetry Mondays (Milwaukee). Also, he participated in an anarchist opera that was hosted by the Formations Series for New and Improvised Music. Thomas's main goal for his part of the Racine County laureateship is to bring the excitement and insights of Natural History to the poetic arts. Amidst a welter of scientific projects, he is currently working on his first volume of poetry, entitled Night Thoughts Among Tyrannosaurs.

Mary Skillings
​Racine Poet Laureate

After spending two decades in the Pacific Northwest, Mary recently returned to her roots in the southeast corner of WI, where she was born, lived the first half of her life, and began writing. From a family of teachers, Mary makes a career and finds meaning in teaching Spanish and ESOL (English to Speakers of Other Languages) to high school students.  Her students inspire her with their fresh use of language, and they remind her that the most important things we say to each other are not said with words. She's been writing for over two decades and has a small collection of poems. She worked in the past with a poet to publish a compilation of student work and will be using these skills through her role as co-poet laureate in Racine to help students strengthen their voices and heal via poetry. She loves sharing a cup of tea (and its tea tag message) with loved ones and a good pastry, especially her dog Scone.