DLC Blog

Poet Laureates

Enjoy writing poetry, and being compensated for it with a government pension & a supply of wine? You might be interested in being a poet laureate! The position of poet laureate originated in England, where the poet laureate was responsible for writing poetry about, and in celebration of, important public events. Other countries also have poet laureates, including our own, where the position is appointed by the librarian of congress for a 10 year term. According to Grolier Online, "In the United States a Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress was first appointed by the librarian of Congress in 1937. The first incumbent was Joseph Auslander (1937–1941), whose successors were appointed for one-year terms. Robert Penn Warren first served in 1944–1945; following a change of official name made by the U.S. Congress in 1985, Warren was reappointed for 1986–1987 as Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry. Although a number of U.S. laureates have served more than one term, Robert Pinsky was the first to serve three consecutive terms (1997–2000). The task of the U.S. poet laureate is to raise public awareness and appreciation of poetry. In Canada the office of Parliamentary Poet Laureate was created in December 2001; George Bowering was named to serve the first two-year term. Like British laureates, Canadian laureates are asked to supply poetry for official occasions. Some states, provinces, and cities have poets laureate of their own."
Think you have what it takes? Read all about the position in Grolier by clicking here.
Unfortunately, todays poets laureate are probably no longer paid allowances of wine, but I imagine even the US poet laureate makes a pretty decent living!

British Poets Laureate
Laureate Dates Sovereign
John Dryden (1670–1689) Charles II
Thomas Shadwell (1689–1692) William III
Nahum Tate (1692–1715) William III
Nicholas Rowe (1715–1718) George I
Laurence Eusden (1718–1730) George I
Colley Cibber (1730–1757) George II
William Whitehead (1757–1785) George II
Thomas Warton (1785–1790) George III
Henry James Pye (1790–1813) George III
Robert Southey (1813–1843) George III
William Wordsworth (1843–1850) Victoria
Alfred Tennyson (1850–1892) Victoria
Alfred Austin (1896–1913) Victoria
Robert Bridges (1913–1930) George V
John Masefield (1930–1967) George V
Cecil Day-Lewis (1968–1972) Elizabeth II
John Betjeman (1972–1984) Elizabeth II
Ted Hughes (1984–1998) Elizabeth II
Andrew Motion (1999– ) Elizabeth II

Posted by Sean at January 27, 2006 02:32 PM in Humanities.