Ada Limón to get second term as US poet laureate in historic move
Ada Limón has been appointed to a two-year second term as the nation's 24th poet laureate – the first time this has happened. The act of Congress establishing the poet laureate position states that the Librarian of Congress may appoint a laureate "for one- or two-year terms”. This is the first time a laureate will serve the longer option. Limón's second term will begin in September 2023 and conclude in April 2025.
Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden said: "During her first term, Ada Limón has done so much to broaden and promote poetry to reach new audiences. A two-year second term gives the laureate and the Library the opportunity to realise these efforts and showcase how poems connect to, and make sense of, the world around us."
On 1 June Limón she will return to the Library to reveal a new poem she has written for Nasa's Europa Clipper mission. Her poem will be engraved on the spacecraft that will travel 1.8 billion miles to explore Europa, one of Jupiter's moons.
Limón said: "I am beyond honoured to serve for another two years as the poet laureate of the United States. Everywhere I have travelled during my first term, both nationally and internationally, I've been reminded that poetry brings people together. I am looking forward to continuing the important work of celebrating what poetry can do."
Ada Limón was born in Sonoma, California, in 1976 and is of Mexican ancestry. She is the author of six poetry collections, including The Carrying (Milkweed Editions, 2018), which won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry; Bright Dead Things (2015), a finalist for the National Book Award and the National Books Critics Circle Award; Sharks in the Rivers (2010); Lucky Wreck (Autumn House, 2006); and This Big Fake World (Pearl Editions, 2006). Her latest poetry collection is The Hurting Kind. She is the host of the acclaimed podcast The Slowdown and lives in Lexington, Kentucky.
