Margaret Daramola
Poet Laureate of the Commonwealth of Virginia, 2023–2025
Margaret Daramola is a writer, spoken word artist, and public speaker. She was raised in Switzerland, where she began writing at an early age. She holds a BA in English from Hampton University.
Daramola self-published her first poetry collection, A Pathway Through Survival, in 2021. She is the recipient of the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship (MMUF) and the Hampton University Student Poet Initiative Award.
Daramola has performed poetry at various venues and events, including the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, the African Union, and at the inauguration of Hampton University’s thirteenth president. In 2023, she was appointed poet laureate of the Commonwealth of Virginia and will serve a two-year term.