jst5150
04-25-2008, 07:27 PM
As the 6th Poet Laureate, I wanted to start a thread that gave some useful insight to poets and poems of the past and present. I and other poet laureates will add to this thread as we go. Please PM the poet laureate with comments or suggestions.
Let's lead off with this:
The United States does not have a poet laureate, but the Library of Congress does. It's actually a consultancy position. It started in 1937. Here's a timeline (http://www.loc.gov/poetry/laureate.html)if you'd like to see who and when. And here's the Wikipedia entry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poet_Laureate_Consultant_in_Poetry_to_the_Library_ of_Congress) on the library's poet consultant position.
When I was born in 1969, the Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress was William Jay Smith. According go the Library of Congress' Web site, "Smith was born in Louisiana but grew up in St. Louis, Missouri. Besides his 10 collections of poetry, Smith wrote criticism, translations and children’s literature. He is particularly noted for his translations of French, Hungarian, Dutch and Brazilian poetry. Smith taught at Williams College, Columbia University and Hollins College. His most recent work is “The World Beneath the Window: Poems 1937-1997.”
When I joined the Air Force in 1987, the LOC laureate was Richard Wilbur. Mr. Wilbur, "... served in the U.S. Army as a cryptographer in World War II. His book of poetry, 'Things of This World,' won the 1957 Pulitzer Prize. He won a second Pulitzer in 1989 for "New and Collected Poems." Wilbur won many awards and honors, including the Bollingen Prize, the Robert Frost Medal and the Shelley Memorial Award. He taught at Harvard, Wesleyan University and Smith College.
Today, the library's poet laureate is Charles Simic. Mr. Simic, "is the author of 18 books of poetry. He is also an essayist, translator, editor and professor emeritus of creative writing and literature at the University of New Hampshire, where he has taught for 34 years. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1990 for his book of prose poems The World Doesn't End (1989). His 1996 collection, Walking the Black Cat, was a finalist for the National Book Award for Poetry. In 2005 he won the Griffin Prize for Selected Poems: 1963-2003. Simic will publish a new book of poetry, That Little Something, in February 2008. His most recent poetry volume is My Noiseless Entourage (2005)."
Let's lead off with this:
The United States does not have a poet laureate, but the Library of Congress does. It's actually a consultancy position. It started in 1937. Here's a timeline (http://www.loc.gov/poetry/laureate.html)if you'd like to see who and when. And here's the Wikipedia entry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poet_Laureate_Consultant_in_Poetry_to_the_Library_ of_Congress) on the library's poet consultant position.
When I was born in 1969, the Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress was William Jay Smith. According go the Library of Congress' Web site, "Smith was born in Louisiana but grew up in St. Louis, Missouri. Besides his 10 collections of poetry, Smith wrote criticism, translations and children’s literature. He is particularly noted for his translations of French, Hungarian, Dutch and Brazilian poetry. Smith taught at Williams College, Columbia University and Hollins College. His most recent work is “The World Beneath the Window: Poems 1937-1997.”
When I joined the Air Force in 1987, the LOC laureate was Richard Wilbur. Mr. Wilbur, "... served in the U.S. Army as a cryptographer in World War II. His book of poetry, 'Things of This World,' won the 1957 Pulitzer Prize. He won a second Pulitzer in 1989 for "New and Collected Poems." Wilbur won many awards and honors, including the Bollingen Prize, the Robert Frost Medal and the Shelley Memorial Award. He taught at Harvard, Wesleyan University and Smith College.
Today, the library's poet laureate is Charles Simic. Mr. Simic, "is the author of 18 books of poetry. He is also an essayist, translator, editor and professor emeritus of creative writing and literature at the University of New Hampshire, where he has taught for 34 years. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1990 for his book of prose poems The World Doesn't End (1989). His 1996 collection, Walking the Black Cat, was a finalist for the National Book Award for Poetry. In 2005 he won the Griffin Prize for Selected Poems: 1963-2003. Simic will publish a new book of poetry, That Little Something, in February 2008. His most recent poetry volume is My Noiseless Entourage (2005)."