ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½

Skip to main content

Ada Limon named the 24th U.S. poet laureate

Ada Limon poses for a portrait in Washington. (Shawn Miller / Library of Congress via AP) Ada Limon poses for a portrait in Washington. (Shawn Miller / Library of Congress via AP)
Share
NEW YORK -

The U.S.A.'s next poet laureate, Ada Limon, has long thought of her work as a public art form.

"I grew up with poetry being in the community," says Limon, a native of Sonoma, California. "It wasn't supposed to just be something read on page; it was supposed be read out loud. I remember going to poetry readings at the bookstore where I worked when I was 16. It's the oral tradition. That part of poetry has always remained true to me."

On Tuesday, the Library of Congress announced that the 46-year-old Limon had been named the 24th U.S. poet laureate, officially called the Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry. Her 1-year term begins Sept. 29 with the traditional reading at the Library's Coolidge Auditorium, one of the laureate's few formal obligations. Limon, who succeeds Joy Harjo, is an award-winning and unusually popular poet, her acclaimed collection "Bright Dead Things" selling more than 40,000 copies. She has published six books of poetry, most recently "The Hurting Kind," and also hosts the podcast "The Slowdown."

"Ada Limon is a poet who connects," Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden said in a statement. "Her accessible, engaging poems ground us in where we are and who we share our world with. They speak of intimate truths, of the beauty and heartbreak that is living, in ways that help us move forward."

The position was established in 1985, with other laureates including Louise Gluck, W.S. Merwin and Rita Dove. Laureates receive a US$35,000 stipend, along with $5,000 for travel expenses, the funding originating not from the government, but from a private gift made decades ago by the philanthropist Archer M. Huntington.

While the job is officially based in Washington, D.C., the poets are not required to live there -- Limon will mostly work from her home in Lexington, Kentucky -- and are generally free to shape the position around their passions. "The Slowdown" podcast grew out of a project launched by Tracy K. Smith when she served as laureate from 2017-2019.

Limon is known in part for her poems about nature and hopes to give readings at parks and other settings that emphasize and celebrate our place in the world.

"Poetry is a way of to remember our relationship with the natural world is reciprocal," she says. "It's having a place to breathe and having a place to pay attention."

CTVNews.ca ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½

BREAKING

BREAKING

Three men were injured after trying to subdue a man armed with a knife during afternoon prayers at a Montreal-area mosque Friday afternoon.

A 15-year-old boy who was the subject of an emergency alert in New Brunswick has been arrested.

Police have arrested an 18-year-old woman who allegedly stole a Porsche and then ran over its owner in an incident that was captured on video.

Since she was a young girl growing up in Vancouver, Ginny Lam says her mom Yat Hei Law made it very clear she favoured her son William, because he was her male heir.

The search for a missing six-year-old boy in Shamattawa is continuing Friday as RCMP hope recent tips can help lead to a happy conclusion.

Local Spotlight

Getting a photograph of a rainbow? Common. Getting a photo of a lightning strike? Rare. Getting a photo of both at the same time? Extremely rare, but it happened to a Manitoba photographer this week.

An anonymous business owner paid off the mortgage for a New Brunswick not-for-profit.

They say a dog is a man’s best friend. In the case of Darren Cropper, from Bonfield, Ont., his three-year-old Siberian husky and golden retriever mix named Bear literally saved his life.

A growing group of brides and wedding photographers from across the province say they have been taken for tens of thousands of dollars by a Barrie, Ont. wedding photographer.

Paleontologists from the Royal B.C. Museum have uncovered "a trove of extraordinary fossils" high in the mountains of northern B.C., the museum announced Thursday.

The search for a missing ancient 28-year-old chocolate donkey ended with a tragic discovery Wednesday.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is celebrating an important milestone in the organization's history: 50 years since the first women joined the force.

It's been a whirlwind of joyful events for a northern Ontario couple who just welcomed a baby into their family and won the $70 million Lotto Max jackpot last month.

A Good Samaritan in New Brunswick has replaced a man's stolen bottle cart so he can continue to collect cans and bottles in his Moncton neighbourhood.