The Librarian of Congress (yes, that’s a real job title) named the country’s newest poet laureate last week. What may come as a surprise to some is that this guy – Donald Hall of New Hampshire – is the 14th such individual to hold this important post.
In taking the post, Hall said:
[H]e would like to follow in the tradition of Mr. Kooser and other laureates who have tried to expand poetry’s reach. “I’d like to encourage NPR to pay more attention to poetry,” he said, referring to public radio, “and the cable networks, with the possibility of HBO doing something.”
Who, you ask, is Mr. Kooser? Maybe you knew, but I had to google the guy. Ted Kooser was the 13th poet laureate. A guy from Nebraska who held the post from 2004 until now. As for me, I didn’t know Kooser got the post two years ago, or that he left it and Hall now held the position. Poetry must not be on my writing radar.
What exactly is a poet laureate…ummm, anyone? Here’s all I know: it’s a renewable one-year appointment that includes an award of $35,000 and a $5,000 travel allowance. That’s all the information I have.
In case you aren’t familiar with Hall – I wasn’t – here’s what I know about him now that I read this article in the New York Times:
Mr. Hall is an extremely productive writer who has published about 18 books of poetry, 20 books of prose and 12 children’s books. He has won many awards, including a National Book Critics Circle Award in 1989 for “The One Day,” a collection.
And
Mr. Hall, a poet in the distinctive American tradition of Robert Frost, has also been a harsh critic of the religious right’s influence on government arts policy. And as a member of the advisory council of the National Endowment for the Arts during the administration of George H. W. Bush, he referred to those he thought were interfering with arts grants as “bullies and art bashers.”
That’s all impressive. Still don’t know exactly what a poet laureate does, but I’m now convinced the country needs a romance laureate.
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LOL. I don’t know what one does either, but I like the idea of a romance laureate. Maybe we should all campaign for that *g*
by Stacy ~ June 18th, 2006 at 11:45 am