WASHINGTON -- Rita Dove, a University of Virginia professor and 1987 Pulitzer Prize recipient, has been chosen U.S. Poet Laureate. She is the nation's first black appointed to the position, and at 40, the youngest.
Librarian of Congress James Billington selected Dove Tuesday. She is to succeed Mona Van Duyn, 72, in October when the appointment takes effect. Dove is the sixth laureate since Robert Penn Warren was appointed the first one.
Dove is the author of four volumes of poetry, a collection of stories, 'Fifth Sunday,' a novel, 'Through the Ivory Gate,' and a forthcoming play. Dove's third volume of poetry, 'Thomas and Beulah,' earned the Pulitzer Prize.
'Poetry is language at its most distilled and most powerful. It's like a bouillon cube: You carry it around and then it nourishes you when you need it,' Dove told Wednesday's Washington Post.
Library of Congress officials and poetry editors said Dove's appointment could revitalize the post at a time when poetry seems to have attracted new attention.
'She'll have a great opportunity to either be as frustrated with the office and its lack of real responsibility and real purpose as the previous laureates or, with her intelligence and vitality, to make the position one that might expand the audience for poetry -- which we all fervently hope for,' said David Lehman, editor of 'The Best American Poetry' annual anthology.
Dove will receive a $35,000 stipend. Dove, married to German novelist Fred Viebahn, plans to commute to Washington each week from her Charlottesville home.
The poet laureate's duties include advising the Library of Congress, answering mail about poetry and scheduling an annual series of readings.
Dove said being the first black laureate made little difference to her personally. 'It is significant in terms of the message it sends about the diversity of our culture and our literature,' she said.
She acknowledged poetry faces stiff competition. 'Given the choice between watching television and reading a book, it is a difficult battle. You have to find ways to show people the pleasure of reading, and that it is something continual and deepening -- not a quick bite.'
