Who Are the United States Poet Laureate Consultants in Poetry?
Who are the United States Poet Laureate Consultants in Poetry? Who appoints the poets laureate? What are their duties? Learn the answers to these questions and more here.
Congratulations to Ada Limón, who was named the 24th Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress (a fancy name for the next U.S. Poet Laureate)! It's well deserved and an incredible addition to the post.
In fact, you can listen to her explain it herself on her podcast The Slowdown (episode 716).
What Is the United States Poet Laureate?
The United States Poet Laureate is the common name given to a post with the official title of Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress. The poet laureate is appointed by the librarian of the United States Congress and serves from October to May, though it's not uncommon for a poet laureate to serve multiple terms.
Their main responsibilities involve giving a lecture and reading of their work and introducing poets at the Library of Congress' poetry series, but many poets laureate use the post to promote poetry in different ways throughout the country.
The post does come with an annual stipend of $35,000.
Who Are the United States Poet Laureate Consultants in Poetry?
The title of Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry was created by an act of Congress on December 20, 1985. The post was previously titled Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress.
Here are the United States Poet Laureate Consultants in Poetry:
- 1986-1987: Robert Penn Warren
- 1987-1988: Richard Wilbur
- 1988-1990: Howard Nemerov
- 1990-1991: Mark Strand
- 1991-1992: Joseph Brodsky
- 1992-1993: Mona Van Duyn
- 1993-1995: Rita Dove
- 1995-1997: Robert Hass
- 1997-2000: Robert Pinsky
- 2000-2001: Stanley Kunitz
- 2001-2003: Billy Collins
- 2003-2004: Louise Glück
- 2004-2006: Ted Kooser
- 2006-2007: Donald Hall
- 2007-2008: Charles Simic
- 2008-2010: Kay Ryan
- 2010-2011: W. S. Merwin
- 2011-2012: Philip Levine
- 2012-2014: Natasha Trethewey
- 2014-2015: Charles Wright
- 2015-2017: Juan Felipe Herrera
- 2017-2019: Tracy K. Smith
- 2019-2022: Joy Harjo
- 2022-now: Ada Limón (officially takes position in September)
Who Are the Consultants in Poetry?
As mentioned above, the poet laureate position was previously titled Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress. Here are the people who served in that role (* next to names who also served as poet laureate):
- 1937-1941: Joseph Auslander
- 1943-1944: Allen Tate
- 1944-1945: Robert Penn Warren*
- 1945-1946: Louise Brogan
- 1946-1947: Karl Shapiro
- 1947-1948: Robert Lowell
- 1948-1949: Léonie Adams
- 1949-1950: Elizabeth Bishop
- 1950-1952: Conrad Aiken
- 1952: William Carlos Williams
- 1956-1958: Randall Jarrell
- 1958-1959: Robert Frost
- 1959-1961: Richard Eberhart
- 1961-1963: Louis Untermeyer
- 1963-1964: Howard Nemerov*
- 1964-1965: Reed Whittemore
- 1965-1966: Stephen Spender
- 1966-1968: James Dickey
- 1968-1970: William Jay Smith
- 1970-1971: William Stafford
- 1971-1973: Josephine Jacobsen
- 1973-1974: Daniel Hoffman
- 1974-1976: Stanley Kunitz*
- 1976-1978: Robert Hayden
- 1978-1980: William Meredith
- 1981-1982: Maxine Kumin
- 1982-1984: Anthony Hecht
- 1984-1985: Reed Whittemore (interim)
- 1984-1985: Robert Fitzgerald
- 1985-1986: Gwendolyn Brooks
To learn more, visit the Library of Congress site at www.loc.gov.
Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Editor of Writer's Digest, which includes managing the content on WritersDigest.com and programming virtual conferences. He's the author of 40 Plot Twist Prompts for Writers: Writing Ideas for Bending Stories in New Directions, The Complete Guide of Poetic Forms: 100+ Poetic Form Definitions and Examples for Poets, Poem-a-Day: 365 Poetry Writing Prompts for a Year of Poeming, and more. Also, he's the editor of Writer's Market, Poet's Market, and Guide to Literary Agents. Follow him on Twitter @robertleebrewer.
