Word: laureateship
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...Female poets have long been in the running for the post: As far back as 1850, Elizabeth Barrett Browning was considered for the laureateship after Wordsworth's death, but it passed on to Tennyson instead. However, in choosing how to announce her new job Friday morning, Duffy made sure her snubbed predecessors weren't forgotten. The name of the BBC program on which she broke the historic news? Woman's Hour. (Read about America's busiest poet, Kay Ryan...
...Patricia Gray, the head of the library's Poetry and Literature Center, describes the laureateship as an "iconic" position. It is the highest honor for a poet in this country, bestowed by the Librarian of Congress, who consults with former laureates, the current laureate and poetry critics in making his choice. It is the only government office for a literary artist that is not federally funded. It is an academic-year position (October to May), but poets may extend their term if they choose. The perks include a $35,000 stipend, a $5,000 travel allowance, cultural cachet...
...American poet laureateship grew out of the English medieval tradition of granting royal patronage to poets who traveled from court to court. The first de facto laureate was Ben Jonson, who received a pension from King James I in 1616. John Dryden was the first to bear the official title of "laureate," which was bestowed on him in 1670. He received an honorarium of ?100 for writing birthday poems for the royal family. Since then, poets including William Wordsworth and Alfred Lord Tennyson have held the post in England. Their only duty was to write poems for national occasions. Their...
Rita Dove embarks on her poet laureateship...
...poet laureateship may be a title in name only, but certainly no one is begrudging Warren's selection. He is a familiar name to the general public, probably best known for his novel All the King's Men (1946). He is the only person ever to win Pulitzer prizes for both poetry and fiction. His distinguished career seems to have made the introduction of a regal tradition into a democratic society easy for everyone involved. "I think he is such an obvious choice," says Librarian Boorstin, who made the appointment. "We were fortunate to have Robert Penn Warren with...