Celebrating W.S. Merwin, New U.S. Poet Laureate | The Atlantic Wire

Celebrating W.S. Merwin, New U.S. Poet Laureate | The Atlantic Wire

Celebrating W.S. Merwin, New U.S. Poet Laureate

by Benjamin F. Carlson

Crowning a career filled with laurels, 82-year-old poet William Stanley Merwin has been named 17th Poet Laureaute of the United States. The weighty title, accompanied by a $35,000 stipend, is conferred by the Librarian of the U.S. Congress and carries few specified responsibilities. Literary commentators have responded to the pick with little surprise, given Merwin's eminence in the field, and are more focused on his relative isolation, his elliptical style, and his role within contemporary American poetry. Here's what they're saying:

• Very Un-D.C. Drew Bratcher of Washingtonian delves into Merwin's personal and aesthetic distance from D.C. Bratcher notes he's a "Zen Buddhist [who] lives in a rainforest in Hawaii," and says his delicate lyrics owe "more to Asian and Latin American poets, many of whose work Merwin has translated, than to Beltway favorites such as Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Robert Frost."

• Passionate About Nature Mike Melia of PBS's News Hour explains that Merwin "designed and built their house at the edge of a dormant volcano. He is an avid gardener and passionate environmentalist. His garden has grown into a sanctuary for a number of rare plants." He brings back a News Hour segment on Merwin with Jeffrey Brown that you can view on their page.

• A Quiet Poet of Mysterious, Musical Lines Patricia Cohen of the New York Times provides an excellent account of Merwin's life. She describes him as "reclusive," "extravagantly" handsome, and known for (in the words of fellow poet Dana