I grew up in Minnesota and Wisconsin, where I went to college. From then until now, I moved around quite a bit–with stints in Boston, Houston, Iowa City, Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, Seattle, and western Massachusetts. These days I divide my time between D.C. and Brooklyn, N.Y., where I have lived since 2001.
I run the office of thePoet Laureate, and oversee the office’s programming efforts: 35-40public programsannually, featuring poets and writers–mostly at the Library, but also around the country. We also have a website,www.loc.gov/poetry, with a growing number of resources.
Why did you want to work in the Library of Congress?
Well, there’s the stature and the reach of the institution, and the Laureate position. Both allow me to champion literature in ways I could not elsewhere. And there are all the wonderful people I get to work with–a part of the job I appreciate more and more.
What is the most interesting fact you have learned about the Library of Congress?
I did not know that poetArchibald MacLeishwas once the Librarian of Congress! It’s rare that poets are tapped to run federal institutions (the only other example I know of isDana Gioia, former chairman of theNational Endowment for the Arts).
What’s something most of your co-workers do not know about you?
I didn’t appreciate, or even like, poetry until college. My first semester, I even took the English Lit intro seminar with the least amount of poetry on the syllabus. It changed my life–my professor,Rafael Pérez-Torres, was an inspiration. Through his class I fell in love with the art; he has become one of my dearest friends. So: it’s always possible for the poetry-averse to change their minds.