Today is one of of the biggest days of the year for our office. In just a few hours, Ada Limón will walk onto our historic Coolidge Auditorium stage for the first time as our 24th Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry.
The space is our biggest in the Library, with 485 seats; we also have an overflow room with chairs for 100. But demand has far outstripped capacity, so I’m writing to let you know that the Poet Laureate Opening Reading will be livestreamed on the Library’s YouTube page.
I hope all of those who want to see Ada’s’ reading will get a chance to do so. She’ll be reading 11 poems from throughout her six books–and I have to tell you, hearing her recite “How To Triumph Like a Girl” from memory at soundcheck this afternoon give me chills. Those of you who have seen her read or heard her on “The Slowdown” know what I mean–you’ve experienced the way her delivery heightens the poem’s movement, its focus, its impact.
I count myself lucky to have a seat for tonight, and I want to say to all of our “Catbird Seat” subscribers: you do too, wherever you are!
Comments
I’ve always been intrigued by the concept of the Poet Laureate. How does one achieve this accolade?
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