Fairhope poet and songwriter Mike Turner has been elected the next president of the Alabama State Poetry Society during the organization’s spring meeting held Saturday, May 30, in Birmingham.

According to a news release, Turner will begin a two-year term when he takes office at the ASPS Fall Meeting in October or November.

Founded in 1968, the Alabama State Poetry Society promotes and encourages poetry and poets across Alabama by creating opportunities for networking, sharing work and developing writing skills. The organization holds annual meetings throughout the state, sponsors twice-yearly poetry contests, conducts workshops and poetry readings and serves as Alabama’s official representative to the National Federation of State Poetry Societies.

“I’m honored to be elected as the next ASPS president,” Turner said in the release, “and look forward not only to promoting and supporting Alabama poets, but also representing Alabama poets and poetry across the state and the country.”

Turner was named the 2025 ASPS Poet of the Year in recognition of his efforts to promote and participate in poetry and literary events through both the Alabama State Poetry Society and the Alabama Writers’ Cooperative, one of the nation’s oldest writers’ organizations. His work also includes organizing the Fairhope Public Library’s “Beach Beats” poetry reading series and supporting literary and poetry events throughout Mobile and Baldwin counties as well as Pensacola.

In addition to his new statewide role, Turner was recently elected president of The Pensters, a Fairhope-based writing group founded in 1965 and considered one of Alabama’s oldest writing organizations. The group supports the development of authors and poets in Fairhope and throughout Baldwin County.

Turner has published more than 550 poems in more than 150 literary journals, websites and anthologies in the United States and abroad. His poetry collection, “Visions and Memories,” was published by Sweetycat Press in 2021 and is available through Amazon.

Among his literary honors, Turner’s poem “Sense of Peace” received the Alabama Writers’ Cooperative’s 2023 Roger Williams Peace Prize. He was also named “Poet of the Week” by the University of South Alabama Libraries Art Galleries in 2021.

Turner’s creative work extends beyond poetry into music. He performed original songs about life along the Gulf Coast on the “15 Minutes of Fame Stage” at the 2020 Monroeville Literary Festival. He was also recognized as Male Gospel Entertainer of the Year by the Alabama Music Association in 2016 and by the North American Country Music Associations International in 2017.