At a time when its leadership is in question and its mission challenged, the Library of Congress has named a new US poet laureate, the much-honored author and translator Arthur Sze. The library announced Monday that the 74-year-old Sze had been appointed to a one-year term, starting this fall. The author of 12 poetry collections and recipient last year of a lifetime achievement award from the library, he succeeds Ada Limón, who had served for three years. Previous laureates also include Joy Harjo, Louise Glück, and Billy Collins.
Speaking during a recent Zoom interview with the AP, Sze acknowledged some misgivings when Rob Casper, who heads the library's poetry and literature center, called him in June about becoming the next laureate. He wondered about the level of responsibilities and he worried about the upheaval since President Trump fired Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden in May. After thinking about it overnight, he called Casper back and accepted. "I think it was the opportunity to give something back to poetry, to something that I've spent my life doing," he explained. "So many people have helped me along the way. Poetry has just helped me grow so much, in every way."
Sze's new job begins during a tumultuous year for the library, a 200-year-old, nonpartisan institution that holds a massive archive of books published in the United States. Trump abruptly fired Hayden after conservative activists accused her of imposing a "woke" agenda, criticism that Trump has expressed often as he seeks sweeping changes at the Kennedy Center, the Smithsonian museums, and other cultural institutions.
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Laureates are forbidden to take political positions, although the tradition was breached in 2003 when Collins publicly stated his objections to President George W. Bush's push for war against Iraq. The mission is loosely defined as a kind of literary ambassador, to "raise the national consciousness to a greater appreciation of the reading and writing of poetry."
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