August 2, 2007
THUMBING THE TANKREDISTS IN THE EYEHOLE:
Immigrant Simic to Be U.S. Poet Laureate (HOLLY RAMER, 8/02/07, Associated Press)
Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Charles Simic, who learned English as a teenage immigrant, will be the new U.S. poet laureate, the Library of Congress announced Thursday.Simic, who lives in Strafford, will replace another New Hampshire poet, Donald Hall of Wilmot, who said Thursday he was delighted by Simic's selection.
The poet laureate program promotes poetry across the nation.
Charles Simic, Surrealist With Dark View, Is Named Poet Laureate (MOTOKO RICH, 8/02/07, NY Times)
Charles Simic, a writer who juxtaposes dark imagery with ironic humor, is to be named the country’s 15th poet laureate by the Librarian of Congress today.
The concentration of the great American poets in NH/VT/MA is pretty remarkable--testimony to the centrality of Calvinism to the American identity.
It's the shallow topsoil. The stoniness of it all.
Posted by: ghostcat at August 2, 2007 12:54 PMOr it show how irrelevant poetry really is. In the rest of the country, they've got better things to do.
Posted by: Raoul Ortega at August 2, 2007 1:35 PMI attended a reading by Simic at Baylor a few years back. He impressed me enough to purchase his book "Jackstraws" and have him sign it. I like how he keeps a crisp style while creating powerful imagery. The attendance at the reading was low because that ham Robert Bly was the big draw of the event and was getting all the attention.
Posted by: Shelton at August 2, 2007 3:01 PMoj,
I am saddened that you have neglected my favorite poet, Richard Wilbur. WWII vet and poet laureate of the US. Resident of MA, and author of some of the most unusual yet beautiful poems I have ever encountered. Jerry