For the first time ever, the official poet of the United States will be a University of Massachusetts graduate.
The 19th person to hold the position, Trethewey has written four collections of poetry and was awarded the 2007 Pulitzer Prize in poetry for her collection “Native Guard,” which explores racism at both a national and personal level.
“Natasha Trethewey is an outstanding poet/historian in the mold of Robert Penn Warren, our first Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry,” James Billington, the librarian of Congress, said in a press release. “Her poems dig beneath the surface of history – personal or communal, from childhood or from a century ago – to explore the human struggles that we all face.”
Trethewey will be expected to oversee poetry readings and lectures at the Library of Congress during her tenure as laureate. Each laureate usually approaches the position differently – choosing to focus on different projects that make the public more aware of poetry.
Trethewey will begin her term on Sept. 13 with a free public reading at the Library of Congress in Washington.
The selection of the 46-year-old for the post surprised many, including Lisa Olstein, the associate director of the UMass Masters of Fine Arts program.
“I don’t think anyone expected it,” Olstein said.
While Olstein did not work in the department of Fine Arts when Trethewey studied at UMass 17 years ago, she did meet her two years ago when Trethewey served as the Eleanor Bateman Alumni Scholar in Residence.
Trethewey “is a wonderful poet and this is a great selection,” Olstein said in a phone interview. “(She) writes meaningful poems that are shaping the American poetry landscape.”
Trethewey will directly succeed Philip Levine in the position. She’ll also follow a long line of laureates, such as W.S. Merwin, Billy Collins, Robert Penn Warren and Robert Frost.
And she’ll live and work in Washington during tenure – making her the first laureate to work in the Poets Room of the Poetry and Literature Center at the Library of Congress since 1986.
Trethewey received a B.A. in English from the University of Georgia and an M.A. in poetry from Hollins University, before getting her M.F.A. from UMass.
Sam Hayes can be reached at [email protected].
