Grace Interviews the United States Poets Laureate

Billy Collins
This interview was conducted at the Library of Congress, December 2001. Grace Cavalieri produces and hosts "The Poet and the Poem;" The series is delivered to public radio via NPR satellite. Billy Collins's  most recent books of poetry include a volume of new and selected poems, Sailing Alone Around the Room (Random House, 2001) Picnic, Lightning (University of Pittsburgh Press, 1998); The Art of Drowning, (1995); and, Questions About Angels (1991.) ...

Louise Gluck
Louise Gluck was the 12th Poet Laureate Consultant in poetry at the Library of Congress. This interview was conducted by Grace Cavalieri for the radio program "The Poet and the Poem from the Library of Congress," during the Library's bicentennial celebration in 2000. The program was distributed via NPR satellite to public radio stations. Louise Gluck holds the Pulitzer Prize for her book, The Wild Iris; She is the author of eight other books of poetry, most recently The Seven Ages (Ecco Press.). She holds the Rebekah Johnson Bobbitt Prize for Poetry, The National Critics Circle Award, and The Poetry Society of America's Melville Kane Award. ...

Josephine Jacobsen
Josephine Jacobsen was born in Ontario Canada in 1908. She authored many books of poetry including The Chinese Insomniacs, and The Sisters which won the Lenore-Marshall Award. Her career spanned more than six decades. The American Academy of the Arts Citation celebrated her as a recipient of "almost every major poetry award." From 1971-1973 she served as Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress. This interview celebrated her ninth book, In the Crevice of Time, New and Collected Poems in 1995. Josephine Jacobsen died earlier this year, 2004. ...

Stanley Kunitz
Our guest is the tenth Poet Laureate of the United States, Stanley Kunitz, just inaugurated. Stanley Kunitz, the most beloved poet in America and a fitting choice to hold the county's top poetry post.  Born in Worchester, Massachusetts in 1905, educated in Harvard, he has done many things for other poets in this county. ...

Robert Haas
Robert Hass is our Poet Laureate consultant in poetry. He was born in San Francisco, took his undergraduate degree at St. Mary’s College and his graduate degrees at Stanford University. He reads from Field Guide, his first book, and Human Wishes. His other collections are 20th Century Pleasures, The The Essential Haiku, and he has worked with many translations which we will find out about. ...

Howard Nemerov
Howard Nemerov was the third Poet Laureate of the United States. At the time of this interview he was working on his 14th volume of poetry. He is the author of three novels, two collections of short stories and has received every top award including the Pulitzer in' 78. At the time of his death he was the Distinguished University Professor of English at Washington University in St. Louis. This interview took place the day of Mr. Nemerov's inauguration as Laureate. It was broadcast nationwide on satellite to public radio stations. ...

Robert Pinsky
Robert Pinsky is the U.S. Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress, 1997-98. Pinsky's verse translation, The Inferno of Dante, was published in 1995. He teaches in the graduate creative writing program at Boston University. He is the author of five books of poetry: Sadness and Happiness (1975), An Explanation of America (1979), History of  My Heart (1983), and The Want Bone (1990). The Figured Wheel: New and Collected Poems was published in 1996. This program was recorded while Mr. Pinsky visited the Library of Congress as a guest poet, 1995-96 season, the year prior to his appointment as U.S. Poet Laureate. ...

Mark Strand
Mark Strand has published eight books of Poetry, most recently The Continuous Life (1990). He is the author of three children's books and the coeditor of several anthologies, Including New Poetry of Mexico (with Octavio Paz) and Another Republic (with Charles Simic). He is also a translator and an art critic. As a poet, Mark Strand has won numerous awards; In 1990, he was appointed fourth Poet Laureate of the United States. ...

Reed Whittemore
Reed Whittemore is the author of more than 14 books. He is a biographer and one of America’s most distinguished poets. He has twice served as the consultant in poetry to the library of congress. He is Professor Emeritus, University of Maryland, he is the biographer of William Carlos Williams, and he is presently writing his memoirs. ...