Our New Poet Laureate
The Librarian of Congress has appointed a new poet laureate, Donald Hall. I was hoping there would be some sort of official appointment ceremony today, which I could attend, but I can’t find any information about it.
Here is the Washington Post story on the poet, Set to Verse: Donald Hall is New Poet Laureate. And here is the Library of Congress official announcement, Librarian of Congress Appoints Donald Hall New Poet Laureate.
Here’s a clip from the Post story:
Other poets and critics cite a complex, book-length poem called “The One Day” — published in 1988 but composed over 17 years — as Hall’s greatest achievement.
“In a sense, it is the last masterpiece of American modernism,” said National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Dana Gioia, noting that as such, it is unlike the bulk of Hall’s generally more accessible work. David Lehman, reviewing “The One Day” in The Washington Post, called it “loud, sweeping, multitudinous, an act of the imperial imagination,” and cited a climactic line suggestive of the poet’s fundamental take on life:
“Work, love, build a house and die. But build a house.”
I’m going to check out this book-length poem, The One Day it’s only 67 pages long, which technically, I think, means that it is novella length rather than book length…but who’s counting pages? Oh, I guess I am…
