Hooray to Our New Poet Laureate!

We at the Poetry and Literature Center are thrilled the Librarian has selected Charles Wright to be the twentieth Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry at the Library of Congress. And we’re not the only ones—the media response has been impressive. Peter Armenti has put together a terrific web guide for Mr. Wright, and he’s adding links by the minute. Here are a few highlights:

• An interview with Melissa Brock on National Public Radio’s All Things Considered
• A dedicated “Charles Wright” page on the PBS NewsHour website, including a new audio interview with Jeffrey Brown and a link to a video from a 1998 interview with Melissa Farnsworth
• In-depth profiles on The New York Times and Washington Post, with links to featured poems
• A piece on the Poetry Foundation website featuring a great quote from Foundation President Robert Polito

Wright is no stranger to the Library—in 2008 he won our Rebekah Johnson Bobbitt National Prize in Poetry (and he’s the first Bobbitt winner to become Laureate). He also participated in the PLC’s “Fellowship of Southern Writers Celebration,” organized by fellow southerner and Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey. Here is a picture of Laureates 19 and 20 with the Librarian of Congress, standing on the balcony to the PLC’s Poetry Room.

We are excited to work with Charles Wright, and we hope you can join us on Thursday, September 25^th for his opening reading at the Library!