Volume 10:4, Fall 2009
POETS LAUREATE ISSUE
Introduction
by Dan
Vera
The Great
Hall in the Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress
photo credit: Dan Vera
This issue has its origins in two places. One is most
certainly the multi-year DC
Authors' Houses project that Kim
Roberts and I undertook a few years ago. Finding and photographing
the houses of writers who called Washington home acquainted me with
the Poets Laureate who spent time here in the capital city. A few, like
Randall
Jarrell relished his time in DC, while others like
Elizabeth Bishop,
who spent two miserable post-war years here, couldn't wait to leave.
But they experienced the city and my interest was piqued. The poetry
series I co-curate in Brookland has undertaken the novel experiment
of mounting poetry readings once a year featuring the work of these
43 Poets Laureate. These readings have not only served to confirm the
lasting worth of many of these poets' work but also managed to instill
in me an abiding interest in this diverse group of poets. But this issue
would not have taken place without the invitation of Kim Roberts. I
owe lasting gratitude for her generosity of spirit, for creating a space
to expand my knowledge of these forebears and contemporary poets, and
for the welcome excuse to ask others to join me in the effort.
The contributors to this issue have taken time to explore
these poets and write of their discoveries. For some, the archival material
has been voluminous, and I applaud the herculean efforts to uncover
the Washington-centeredness of their subjects. Peter Montgomery's essay
on Randall
Jarrell's time
in DC illuminates the diurnal minutae of what a consultant actually
once did in the job and how this poet-critic embraced the city
during his term. Christy Zink writes of the precarious challenges of
the position for a poet like William
Stafford, whose career of conscientious political activism
could and did place him at odds with the government. Michael Gushue's
anecdotal tour-de-force on Anthony
Hecht reveals the humanity of this scholar-poet who made
Washington his home before and after his consultantship. Some of these
contributors, like Alan King on Charles
Simic and Danielle Evennou on Kay
Ryan, were faced with the daunting task of commenting
on contemporary poets whose recent and current terms are still changing
in understanding. They were both able to mine the quicksilver of these
dynamic poets to glean their importance to the current state of poetry
and their contributions to the position. Rounding out this issue are
two archival interviews, one by Grace Cavalieri with Joseph
Brodsky and Jean Nordhaus's conversation with
Mark
Strand. They add the unique element of laureates speaking
in situ. The wisdom revealed in these interviews provide a
remarkable testament to the intelligence of the choices made by the
Library. My contribution has been an essay
on the four Laureates Joseph
Auslander, William
Carlos Williams, James
Dickey and Maxine
Kumin. Their experiences reveal the
Library's evolving relationship with poets appointed to this position.
I have also included links to some earlier poems and
essays on or by the Laureates that were part of the Beltway Poetry
Archives. Among the older pieces, you will find a rememberance of Mona
Van Duyn by Andrea Carter Brown, and selections of multiple
poems by Anthony
Hecht and Reed
Whittemore.
A note on language and usage chosen for these essays.
The position we are speaking of has had two names over the years. It
was first called Consultant in Poetry. In 1985, by an act of Congress,
the position's name was changed. Special note should be made of Senator
Spark M. Matsunaga of Hawaii. In 1963, as a freshman congressman, Matsunaga
first introduced legislation to create a Laureateship in poetry. For
the next 22 years, he would reintroduce the legislation in every session
of Congress until its final passage on October 3, 1985. The position,
not changed in responsibility or appointment process, was now Poet Laureate
Consultant in Poetry. There always seemed to be some confusion with
the title. Although it was a Consultantship, the record seems to show
it was always popularly referred to as the Laureate. Matsunaga's change
seemed to be a much-needed recognition of what most Americans, if they
even know of its existence, considered it. Therefore you will find the
terms Consultant and Laureate used interchangeably throughout these
pieces. A second point about the institution in question. It is the
Library of Congress and in these pages referred to in the capitalized
form as the Library. It is not the local branch or a university library.
It is by its very nature the nation's library. As such we capitalize
it as we would the Capitol.
It is my fervent hope that this issue causes you to
explore more of these poets' work. In many ways the Laureates provide
a historical framework for understanding the last seventy years of American
poetic history. They deserve to be remembered and studied and enjoyed.
Volume 10.4, Fall 2009
Table of Contents
U.S. POETS LAUREATE ISSUE
Guest
Editor: Dan Vera
1937-1941.......JOSEPH
AUSLANDER
Four
Laureates by Dan Vera
DC Authors'
Houses by Kim Roberts and Dan Vera
1943-1944.......ALLEN
TATE
1944-1945.......ROBERT
PENN WARREN
1945-1946.......LOUISE
BOGAN
1946-1947.......KARL SHAPIRO
1947-1948.......ROBERT
LOWELL
"July
in Washington" by Robert Lowell
1948-1949.......LÉONIE
ADAMS
1949-1950.......ELIZABETH
BISHOP
"Visit
to St. Elizabeth's" by Elizabeth Bishop
DC Authors'
Houses by Kim Roberts and Dan Vera
1950-1952.......CONRAD
AIKEN
1952................WILLIAM
CARLOS WILLIAMS
Four
Laureates by Dan Vera
"It
is a Living Coral" by William Carlos Williams
1956-1958.......RANDALL
JARRELL
Randall
Jarrell in Washington by Peter Montgomery
DC
Authors' Houses by Kim Roberts and Dan Vera
1958-1959.......ROBERT FROST
1959-1961.......RICHARD EBERHART
1961-1963.......LOUIS UNTERMEYER
1963-1964.......HOWARD NEMEROV
1964-1965.......REED
WHITTEMORE
Six
Poems by Reed Whittemore
1965-1966.......STEPHEN
SPENDER
1966-1968.......JAMES
DICKEY
Four
Laureates by Dan Vera
1968-1970.......WILLIAM
JAY SMITH
1970-1971.......WILLIAM
STAFFORD
An
Area of Possible Encounter: Williams Stafford in Washington DC
by Christy J. Zink
1971-1973.......JOSEPHINE
JACOBSEN
1973-1974.......DANIEL
HOFFMAN
1974-1976.......STANLEY
KUNITZ
1976-1978.......ROBERT HAYDEN
1978-1980.......WILLIAM
MEREDITH
1981-1982.......MAXINE
KUMIN
Four
Laureates by Dan Vera
1982-1984.......ANTHONY
HECHT
Three
Anecdotes about Anthony Hecht by Michael Gushue
Six Poems
by Anthony Hecht
1984-1985.......REED
WHITTEMORE
Six
Poems by Reed Whittemore
1984-1985.......ROBERT
FITZGERALD
1985-1986.......GWENDOLYN
BROOKS
1986-1987.......ROBERT
PENN WARREN
1987-1988.......RICHARD
WILBUR
1988-1990.......HOWARD
NEMEROV
1990-1991.......MARK
STRAND
The
Uncontrollable Elements: An Interview with Mark Strand by Jean
Nordhaus
1991-1992.......JOSEPH
BRODSKY
The
Generous Spirit of American Poetry: An Interview with Joseph Brodsky
by Grace Cavalieri
1992-1993.......MONA
VAN DUYN
Leda
in Red Sneakers: A Remembrance of Mona Van Duyn by Andrea Carter
Brown
1993-1995.......RITA DOVE
1995-1997.......ROBERT HASS
1997-2000.......ROBERT PINSKY
2000-2001.......STANLEY KUNITZ
2001-2003.......BILLY
COLLINS
2003-2004.......LOUISE
GLÜCK
In
the Magnificent Region of Courage: An Interview with Louise Glück
by Grace Cavalieri
2004-2006.......TED KOOSER
2006-2007.......DONALD HALL
2007-2008.......CHARLES
SIMIC
Orphan
of Silence: Charles Simic by Alan King
2008-present...KAY
RYAN
The
Elephant in the Room: Kay Ryan by Danielle Evennou
Dan Vera is a poet and writer living in Washington, DC. He's
the author of The Space Between Our Danger and Delight (Beothuk
Books, 2008), editor of the Gay culture journal White Crane,
co-founder of VRZHU Poetry Press, founder of Brookland Area Writers
& Artists, and a member of DC Poets Against War, and the Triangle
Artists Group. His poetry has appeared in Delaware Poetry Review,
DC Poets Against The War, Konch, Shaping Sanctuary, and Pacifica
Radio's nationally broadcast Peace Watch program.
Published in Volume 10.4, Fall 2009.
Read more by this author:
Dan Vera
Dan Vera:
Evolving City Issue
Dan Vera:
Split This Rock Issue
Kim Roberts and Vera on DC
Author's Houses: Forebears Issue
Dan
Vera: Tenth Anniversary Issue
Dan
Vera: Langston Hughes Tribute Issue
Dan
Vera: Floricanto Issue
Dan Vera on Sterling A. Brown: Poetic Ancestors Issue