The Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress , commonly referred to as the United States Poet Laureate , serves as the official poet of the United States. During their term, the poet laureate seeks to raise the national consciousness to a greater appreciation of the reading and writing of poetry. The position was modeled on the Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom . Begun in 1937, and formerly known as the Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress , the present title was devised and authorized by an Act of Congress in 1985. Appointed by the Librarian of Congress , the poet laureate's office is administered by the Center for the Book . For children's poets, the Poetry Foundation awards the Young People's Poet Laureate .
24-564: The incumbent poet laureate (since 2022) is Ada Limón . The Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry is appointed by the Librarian of Congress and usually serves a two-year term. In making the appointment, the Librarian consults with current and former poets laureate and other distinguished personalities in the field. Currently, the poet laureate receives a $ 60,000 annual stipend , endowed by
48-560: A 2023 PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Award for The Hurting Kind . In February 2024, Limón was named as one of Time magazine's 12 Women of the Year for 2024, for being “extraordinary leaders who are working toward a more equal world.”. To raise public awareness of the Europa Clipper mission, NASA undertook a "Message In A Bottle" campaign, i.e. actually "Send Your Name to Europa" campaign on June 1, 2023, through which people around
72-653: A Girl" (2013), which portrays different aspects of female horses, was awarded the 2015 Pushcart Prize . Her work has also appeared in the Harvard Review and the Pleiades . Limón was appointed 24th Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry by Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden in 2022 and reappointed for a second, two-year term in 2023. As part of her laureateship, she wrote an original poem, “In Praise of Mystery: A Poem for Europa,” dedicated to NASA’s Europa Clipper mission, which debuted on June 1, 2023. The poem
96-474: A different emphasis to the position. Maxine Kumin started a popular series of poetry workshops for women at the Library of Congress. Gwendolyn Brooks met with elementary school students to encourage them to write poetry. Joseph Brodsky initiated the idea of providing poetry in airports, supermarkets, and hotel rooms. Rita Dove , considered the first activist poet laureate, brought together writers to explore
120-788: A fellowship to live and write at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Massachusetts . In 2003, she received a grant from the New York Foundation for the Arts , and in the same year won the Chicago Literary Award for Poetry. To support her writing career, Limón began working in marketing for Condé Nast . She quit this job following her stepmother’s untimely death, which was a catalyst for Limón to decide to pursue her writing career before it
144-432: A gift from Archer M. Huntington . On October 3, 1985, the U.S. Congress passed legislation authored by Senator Spark M. Matsunaga of Hawaii changing the title of the position to Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry. The Library minimizes assigned duties, to allow incumbents to pursue their own projects while at the Library. The poet laureate presents an annual lecture and reading of their poetry and usually introduces poets at
168-553: A love for poetry in high school, despite dedicating her extracurriculars to theatrical productions. She attended the drama school at the University of Washington , where she studied theatre. After taking writing courses from professors including Colleen J. McElroy , she went on to receive her MFA from New York University in 2001, where she studied with Sharon Olds , Philip Levine , Marie Howe , Mark Doty , Agha Shahid Ali , and Tom Sleigh . Upon graduation, Limón received
192-504: Is an American poet , dramatist , essayist and academic , who lives in New York City . He has published nine books of original poetry, one full-length translation of Euripides ' Herakles and two books of essays. His most recent books are House of Fact, House of Ruin: Poems and The Land Between Two Rivers: Writing In an Age of Refugees (essays). At least five of his plays have been produced. He has won numerous awards, including
216-573: Is an American poet. On July 12, 2022, she was named the 24th Poet Laureate of the United States by the Librarian of Congress . This made her the first Latina to be Poet Laureate of the United States. She is married to Lucas Marquardt. Limón, who is of Mexican-American descent, grew up in Sonoma, California . She is the daughter of Ken Limón and Stacia Brady, the latter being the cover artist for her daughter's books. Ada says she developed
240-690: Is engraved in her own handwriting on a metal plate affixed to the Europa Clipper spacecraft. The Europa Clipper launched on October 14, 2024, and is expected to arrive in the Jupiter system in 2030, where it will perform flybys of Jupiter's Galilean moon, Europa . She has been a beneficiary of the Kentucky Foundation for Women . In 2013, Limón served as a judge for the National Book Award for Poetry . In 2020, Limón
264-626: The African diaspora through the eyes of its artists, championed children's poetry and jazz with poetry events and read at the White House during Bill Clinton 's first state dinner. Robert Hass organized a watershed conference that brought together popular novelists, poets, and storytellers to talk about writing, nature, and community, and co-founded the River of Words K–12 international children's poetry and art contest. Robert Pinsky initiated
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#1732801290930288-583: The Favorite Poem Project . Billy Collins's "Poetry 180" project distributed a poem to all high schools for every day of the school year. These poems were also collected and published in two anthologies. Each year links to its corresponding "[year] in poetry" article: 1999 – 2000 (for Library of Congress's 200th Anniversary) Rita Dove , Louise Glück , and W. S. Merwin Ada Lim%C3%B3n Ada Limón (born March 28, 1976)
312-605: The Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown . He began teaching at Dartmouth College in 1986 and later taught at New York University , the University of Iowa , UC-Berkeley and Johns Hopkins University . He lives in Brooklyn , New York, and serves as director of the Hunter College Master of Fine Arts Program in Creative Writing, where he also teaches poetry writing. In an interview published in
336-713: The 2008 Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award , worth $ 100,000, an Academy Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters , The Shelley Award from the Poetry Society of America , and a Guggenheim Foundation grant. He currently serves as director of Hunter College 's Master of Fine Arts (MFA) program in Creative Writing . He is the recipient of the Anna-Maria Kellen Prize and Fellow at the American Academy in Berlin for Fall 2011. Tom Sleigh
360-538: The Library's poetry series, the oldest in the Washington area and among the oldest in the United States. This annual series of public poetry and fiction readings, lectures, symposia, and occasional dramatic performances began in the 1940s. Collectively, the poets laureate have brought more than 2,000 poets and authors to the Library to read for the Archive of Recorded Poetry and Literature. Each consultant has brought
384-455: The authenticity of invention and self-discovery." Limón's fourth book, Bright Dead Things , was released in 2015. She was shortlisted as a finalist for the 2015 National Book Award for Poetry . Her 2018 book, The Carrying , subsequently won a National Book Critics Circle Award . Her poem "State Bird" appeared in the June 2, 2014, issue of The New Yorker , and her poem "How to Triumph Like
408-654: The faculty of Queens University of Charlotte low-residency M.F.A. program, and the "24 Pearl Street" online program for the Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center. When her third book, Sharks in the Rivers ( Milkweed Editions , 2010) was released, a reviewer writing in The Brooklyn Rail observed: "Unlike much contemporary poetry, Limón's work isn’t text-derivative or deconstructivist. She personalizes her homilies, stamping them with
432-504: The literary journal AGNI , Sleigh lists his poetic influences: I'd have to say that Browning for his technique; Wallace Stevens for a certain quality of gravitas, what Keats feels near his death, when he said he was living a sort of posthumous existence; Philip Larkin for his sense of extremity; Pound for his fluidity of conception and hardness of execution; Baudelaire for his music and intense scrutiny and affection for street life; and Bishop and Lowell for their immersion in
456-530: The metal plate is engraved with the poem in the poet's own handwriting, along with participants' names that will be etched onto microchips mounted on the spacecraft. On Friday, August 18, 2023, the City of Sonoma paid tribute to Limón, with a Bench Dedication. The bench is adorned with quotes from Limón's work and is situated in front of Readers’ Books in Sonoma. Tom Sleigh Tom Sleigh ( / s l eɪ / )
480-419: The world are invited to send their names as signatories to a poem called, "In Praise of Mystery: A Poem for Europa" written by Ada Limón. The poem connects the two water worlds — Earth, yearning to reach out and understand what makes a world habitable, and Europa, waiting with secrets yet to be explored. The poem is engraved on a tantalum metal plate that seals an opening into the vault. The inward-facing side of
504-637: Was awarded a Fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation . In July 2022, Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden appointed her the 24th United States Poet Laureate for the term of 2022–2023. Hayden renewed Limón's term for another two years in April 2023. In October 2023, she was named a MacArthur Fellow receiving the “genius” grant from the John and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. She received
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#1732801290930528-669: Was born in Mount Pleasant, Texas , where he lived until the age of five, when he moved to Utah . He lived in Utah until seventh grade, when he moved to California . He attended the California Institute of the Arts , Evergreen State College , and the Johns Hopkins Writing Seminars for two years, where he graduated with an MA. In his mid-twenties he moved to Massachusetts , to work at
552-567: Was the winner of the Pearl Poetry Prize in 2006. The two books came out within less than a year of each other. In a 2014 article in Compose magazine, she stated: "I went from having no books at all, to having two in the span of a year. I felt like I had won the lottery, well, without the money. I suppose, in my life, I’ve never done things the ordinary way. I’m either deep in the bottom of the well or nowhere near water." She serves on
576-572: Was too late. After 12 years in New York City, where she worked for various magazines such as Martha Stewart Living , GQ , and Travel + Leisure , Limón now lives in both Lexington, Kentucky and Sonoma, California , where she writes and teaches. Limón's first book, Lucky Wreck , was chosen by Jean Valentine as the winner of the Autumn House Poetry Prize in 2005, while her second book, This Big Fake World ,
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