W. S. Merwin to Be Named U.S. Poet Laureate
82-year-old Merwin lives in Hawaii, but now he'll be making trips to D.C.
I know I just posted, but I wanted to share this news with everyone. W.S. Merwin is probably in my top ten list of favorite poets, so to see that he’s going to be our new poet laureate is pretty exciting.
A few links for your perusal enjoyment:
- The New York Times Article that announces the news and includes Merwin’s bio and a couple of his poems,
- Merwin’s newest book, The Shadow of Sirius, is certainly one to check out, and finally
- Merwin’s page on Poets.org where you can hear him read a couple of his poems and you can read several more yourself.
Enjoy!
Tags: U.S. poet laureate, W.S. Merwin
Yes, it’s about time. W.S. Merwin is one of my favorites and was one of my first loves. I paid 10 bucks to hear him read in 1996 on Bainbridge Island–one of the few readings I paid to get into. It was worth it and then I got into a fight with my boyfriend-at-the-time on the ferry boat back to Seattle.
WOOOO! But there should also be some kind of disclaimer that says something like, “Taking out all the punctuation is NOT a willy nilly poetical technique. It’s okay to try it at home, but make sure you have good lighting.”
Haha! I like the punctuation disclaimer! I read somewhere that Merwin said he stopped using punctuation because it felt like he was nailing words to the page instead of letting them float around and live there. He wants the language to feel the same way spoken as it does on the page. That’s an interesting notion. Since we can’t see the punctuation when a poem is read aloud, maybe we’re better able to interpret ambiguities and hinges in the lines.
And Shira, I would totally pay $10 to see Merwin read! I’m jealous that you got to. It’s too bad your ex fought with you afterward. :)