Poet Laureate

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Poet Laureate

A Poet Laureate is a poet

Poet

A poet is a person who writes poetry....
officially appointed by a government and is often expected to compose poems for State occasions and other government events. The plural

Plural

Plural is a grammatical number, typically referring to more than one of the referent in the real world. In the English language, singular and plural are the only grammatical numbers....
form is poets laureate.

In United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
, the term has for centuries been the title of the official poet of the monarch, appointed for life since the time of Charles II

Charles II of England

Charles II was the Monarchy of Kingdom of England, Kingdom of Scotland, and Kingdom of Ireland.His father Charles I of England Regicide#The regicide of Charles I of England at Palace of Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War....
. Poets laureate are appointed by many countries. In Britain there is also a Children's Laureate

Children's Laureate

Children's Laureate is a position awarded in the United Kingdom once every two years to a distinguished writer or illustrator of children's literature....
and in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
there is a Student Poet Laureate.

ncient Greece the laurel

Bay Laurel

The Bay Laurel , also known as True Laurel, Sweet Bay, Grecian Laurel, Laurel, or Bay Tree, is an aromatic evergreen tree or large shrub reaching 10?18 m tall, native to the Mediterranean region....
was sacred to the god Apollo

Apollo

In Greek mythology and Roman mythology, Apollo , is one of the most important and many-sided of the Twelve Olympians. The ideal of the kouros , Apollo has been variously recognized as a god of light and the sun; truth and prophecy; archery; medicine and healing; music, poetry, and the arts; and more....
, and was used to form a crown or wreath

Laurel wreath

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Encyclopedia

A Poet Laureate is a poet

Poet

A poet is a person who writes poetry....
officially appointed by a government and is often expected to compose poems for State occasions and other government events. The plural

Plural

United Kingdom

Charles II of England

Children's Laureate

Children's Laureate is a position awarded in the United Kingdom once every two years to a distinguished writer or illustrator of children's literature....
and in the United States

United States

Etymology

In ancient Greece the laurel

Bay Laurel

Apollo

Laurel wreath

A laurel wreath is a circular wreath made of interlocking branches and leaves of the Bay Laurel , an aromatic broadleaf evergreen. In Greek mythology, Apollo is represented wearing a laurel wreath on his head....
of honour for poets and heroes. This custom has since become widespread, both in fact and as a metaphor. The word laureate or laureated thus came in English to signify eminence or association with glory. Laureate letters were once the despatches announcing a victory. The term laureate became associated with degrees awarded by European universities (the term baccalaureate
Bachelor's degree

A bachelor's degree is usually an undergraduate academic degree awarded for a course or major that generally lasts for three, four, or in some cases and countries, five or six years....
for the degree of bachelor reflects this idea). As a royal degree in rhetoric

Rhetoric

Rhetoric is the art of using language as a means to persuade. Along with logic and dialectic, rhetoric is one of the three ancient arts of discourse....
, poet laureate was awarded at European universities in the Middle Ages. The term might also refer to the holder of such a degree, which recognised skill in rhetoric, grammar and language.

According to the historian Edward Gibbon

Edward Gibbon

Petrarch

Francesco Petrarca , known in English language as Petrarch, was an Italy scholar, poet and one of the earliest Renaissance humanism. Petrarch is often popularly called the "Father of Humanism"....
(Francesco Petrarca, 1304–74) of Rome, perhaps best known for his sonnets to the fair-haired, blue-eyed Laura, took the title of "poet laureate" in 1341 for the poem "Africa".

History

From the more general use of the term "poet laureate" arose its restriction in England to an official office of Poet Laureate, attached to the royal household. James I

James I of England

James VI and I was List of monarchs of Scotland as James VI, and List of English monarchs and King of Ireland as James I. He ruled in Kingdom of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567, when he was only one year old, succeeding his mother Mary I of Scotland....
essentially created the position as it is known today for Ben Jonson

Ben Jonson

Benjamin Jonson was an England English Renaissance dramatist, poet and actor. A contemporary of William Shakespeare, he is best known for his satire plays, particularly Volpone, The Alchemist , and Bartholomew Fair, which are considered his best, and his Lyric poetry poems....
in 1617, although Jonson's appointment does not seem to have been formally made. The office was a development from the practice of earlier times when minstrels and versifiers formed part of the King's retinue. Richard Coeur de Lion

Richard I of England

Richard I was King of England from 6 July 1189 until his death in 1199. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Lord of Ireland, Cyprus, Count of Anjou, Count of Nantes and Brittany at various times during the same period....
had a versificator Regis (King's Poet), Gulielmus Peregrinus, and Henry III

Henry III of England

Henry III was the son and successor of John of England as King of England, reigning for fifty-six years from 1216 to his death. His contemporaries knew him as Henry of Winchester....
had a versificator named (Master Henry). In the 15th century, John Kay, also a "versifier", described himself as Edward IV

Edward IV of England

Edward IV was Kingdom of England from 4 March 1461 until 2 October 1470, and again from 11 April 1471 until his death....
's "humble poet laureate".

No single authentic definitive record exists of the office of Poet Laureate of England

England

Henry I of England

Henry I was the fourth son of William I the Conqueror. He succeeded his elder brother William II of England as King of England in 1100 and defeated his eldest brother, Robert Curthose, to become Duke of Normandy in 1106....
paid 10 shillings a year to a Versificator Regis. Geoffrey Chaucer

Geoffrey Chaucer

Geoffrey Chaucer was an English author, poet, philosopher, Bureaucracy, Noble court and diplomat. Although he wrote many works, he is best remembered for his unfinished frame narrative The Canterbury Tales....
1340–1400 was called Poet Laureate, being granted in 1389 an annual allowance of wine. W. Hamilton classes Chaucer, Gower, Kay, Andrew Bernard, Skelton

John Skelton

John Skelton, also known as John Shelton , possibly born in Diss Norfolk, was an England poet....
, Robert Whittington, Richard Edwards, Spenser and Samuel Daniel, as "volunteer Laureates".

John Skelton

John Skelton

John Skelton, also known as John Shelton , possibly born in Diss Norfolk, was an England poet....
studied at Oxford University in the early 1480s, and was advanced to the degree of "poet laureate" in 1488. The title of laureate was also conferred on him by the University of Louvain

Catholic University of Leuven

The Catholic University of Leuven, or Louvain, was the largest, oldest and most prominent university in Belgium. It was founded in 1425 by Pope Martin V, and refounded in 1835 after the disruptions of the French Revolutionary Wars....
in 1492, and by Cambridge University

University of Cambridge

The University of Cambridge , located in Cambridge, England, is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation university in the Anglosphere....
in 1492–3. He soon became famous for rhetoric, satire and translations. In 1488 Skelton joined the court of Henry VII

Henry VII of England

Henry VII was the Kingdom of England and Lordship of Ireland from his usurpation of the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death on 21 April 1509, as the first monarch of the Tudor dynasty....
, tutored Henry VIII

Henry VIII of England

Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was also Lordship of Ireland and claimant to the Early Modern France. Henry was the second monarch of the House of Tudor, succeeding his father, Henry VII of England....
and was the official royal poet for most of the next 40 years. He was held in high esteem: "But I pray mayster John Skelton, late created poete laureate in the unyversite of Oxenforde, to oversee and correct this sayd booke" — Caxton in the preface to The Boke of Eneydos compyled by Vargyle 1490.

The title of Poet Laureate, as a royal office, was first conferred by letters patent

Letters patent

Letters patent are a type of legal instrument in the form of an open letter issued by a monarch or government, granting an office, right, government-granted monopoly, title, or status to a person or to some entity such as a corporation....
on John Dryden

John Dryden

John Dryden was an influential English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who dominated the literary life of English Restoration to such a point that the period came to be known in literary circles as the Age of Dryden....
in 1670, two years after Davenant's death. The post then became a regular institution. Dryden's successor Shadwell originated annual birthday and New Year odes. The poet laureate became responsible for writing and presenting official verses to commemorate both personal occasions, such as the monarch's birthday or royal births and marriages, and public occasions, such as coronations and military victories. His activity in this respect has varied according to circumstances, and the custom ceased to be obligatory after Pye's death. The office fell into some contempt before Southey, but took on a new lustre from his personal distinction and that of Wordsworth

William Wordsworth

William Wordsworth was a major England Romantic poetry poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romanticism in English literature with the 1798 joint publication Lyrical Ballads....
and Tennyson

Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson

Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson was Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom and remains one of the most popular English poets.Tennyson excelled at penning short lyrics, including "In the valley of Cauteretz", "Break, break, break", "The Charge of the Light Brigade ", "Tears, Idle Tears" and "Crossing the Bar"....
. Wordsworth stipulated, before accepting the honour, that no formal effusions from him should be considered a necessity; but Tennyson was generally happy in his numerous poems of this class.

On Tennyson's death there was a considerable feeling that no possible successor was acceptable, William Morris

William Morris

William Morris was an English architect, furniture and textile designer, artist, writer, and Socialism associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and the English Arts and Crafts Movement....
and Swinburne being hardly suitable as court poets. Eventually, however, the undesirability of breaking with tradition for temporary reasons, and thus severing the one official link between literature and the state, prevailed over the protests against allowing anyone of inferior genius to follow Tennyson. It may be noted that abolition had been similarly advocated when Warton and Wordsworth died. Edward Gibbon

Edward Gibbon

Edward Gibbon was an English historian and Member of Parliament. His most important work, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, was published in six volumes between 1776 and 1788....
had condemned the position's artificial approach to poetry:

The salary has varied, but traditionally includes some alcohol. Ben Jonson

Ben Jonson

Benjamin Jonson was an England English Renaissance dramatist, poet and actor. A contemporary of William Shakespeare, he is best known for his satire plays, particularly Volpone, The Alchemist , and Bartholomew Fair, which are considered his best, and his Lyric poetry poems....
first received a pension of 100 marks, and later an annual "terse of Canary wine". Dryden had a pension of £300 and a butt of Canary wine. Pye received £27 instead of the wine. Tennyson

Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson

Lord Chamberlain

The Lord Chamberlain or Lord Chamberlain of the Household is one of the chief officers of the Royal Household in the United Kingdom, and is to be distinguished from the Lord Great Chamberlain, one of the Great Officer of State....
department, and £27 from the Lord Steward's "in lieu of the butt of sack".

Poets laureate of England

Mediaeval

Gulielmus Peregrinus employed by Richard Coeur de Lion
Richard I of England

Richard I was King of England from 6 July 1189 until his death in 1199. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Lord of Ireland, Cyprus, Count of Anjou, Count of Nantes and Brittany at various times during the same period....
Master Henry was Versificator Regis, or King's Poet employed by Henry III
Henry III of England

Henry III was the son and successor of John of England as King of England, reigning for fifty-six years from 1216 to his death. His contemporaries knew him as Henry of Winchester....
(according to Thomas Warton
Thomas Warton

Thomas Warton was an England literary historian and critic, as well as a poet. From 1785 through 1790 he was the Poet Laureate of England....
)
Geoffrey Chaucer
Geoffrey Chaucer

Geoffrey Chaucer was an English author, poet, philosopher, Bureaucracy, Noble court and diplomat. Although he wrote many works, he is best remembered for his unfinished frame narrative The Canterbury Tales....
(c. 1343–1400)
John Kay in the reign of Edward IV
Edward IV of England

Edward IV was Kingdom of England from 4 March 1461 until 2 October 1470, and again from 11 April 1471 until his death....
, 1461–83
1483

Year 1483 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar)....

Tudors

Bernard André of Toulouse (1450–1522), author of Vita regis Henrici Septimi called himself Poet Laureate under Henry VII
Henry VII of England

Henry VII was the Kingdom of England and Lordship of Ireland from his usurpation of the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death on 21 April 1509, as the first monarch of the Tudor dynasty....
John Skelton
John Skelton

John Skelton, also known as John Shelton , possibly born in Diss Norfolk, was an England poet....
was the Poet Laureate under Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England

Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was also Lordship of Ireland and claimant to the Early Modern France. Henry was the second monarch of the House of Tudor, succeeding his father, Henry VII of England....
Edmund Spenser
Edmund Spenser

Edmund Spenser was an important England poet best known for The Faerie Queene, an epic poem celebrating, through fantastical allegory, the Tudor dynasty and Elizabeth I....
died in 1599

1599 to the present

15??: Edmund Spenser
Edmund Spenser

Edmund Spenser was an important England poet best known for The Faerie Queene, an epic poem celebrating, through fantastical allegory, the Tudor dynasty and Elizabeth I....
1599: Samuel Daniel
Samuel Daniel

Samuel Daniel was an England English poetry and History of England....
1619: Ben Jonson
Ben Jonson

Benjamin Jonson was an England English Renaissance dramatist, poet and actor. A contemporary of William Shakespeare, he is best known for his satire plays, particularly Volpone, The Alchemist , and Bartholomew Fair, which are considered his best, and his Lyric poetry poems....
1637: Sir William Davenant
William Davenant

Sir William Davenant , also spelled D'Avenant, was an England poet and playwright. Along with Thomas Killigrew, Davenant was one of the rare figures in English Renaissance theatre whose career spanned both the Literature in English#Caroline and Cromwellian literature and Literature in English#Restoration literature eras, and who was a...
(a godson of William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was an English people poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's preeminent dramatist....
)
1668: John Dryden
John Dryden

John Dryden was an influential English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who dominated the literary life of English Restoration to such a point that the period came to be known in literary circles as the Age of Dryden....
1688: Thomas Shadwell
Thomas Shadwell

Thomas Shadwell was an England poet and playwright who was appointed poet laureate in 1689....
1692: Nahum Tate
Nahum Tate

Nahum Tate was an Irish poet, hymnist, and lyricist, who became England's poet laureate in 1692....
1715: Nicholas Rowe
Nicholas Rowe (dramatist)

Nicholas Rowe , England dramatist, poet and miscellaneous writer, was appointed Poet Laureate in 1715....
1718: Reverend Laurence Eusden
Laurence Eusden

Laurence Eusden , was an England poet who became Poet Laureate in 1718....
1730: Colley Cibber
Colley Cibber

Colley Cibber was a British actor-manager, playwright, and Poet laureate#British_Poets_Laureate. His colourful memoir Apology for the Life of Colley Cibber started a British tradition of personal, anecdotal, and even rambling autobiography....
1757: William Whitehead
William Whitehead

__FORCETOC__William Whitehead, , was an England poet and playwright. He became Poet Laureate in 1757 after Thomas Gray declined the position....
, on the refusal of Thomas Gray
Thomas Gray

Thomas Gray , was an England poet, classical scholar and professor at University of Cambridge....
1785: Reverend Thomas Warton
Thomas Warton

Thomas Warton was an England literary historian and critic, as well as a poet. From 1785 through 1790 he was the Poet Laureate of England....
, on the refusal of William Mason
William Mason (poet)

William Mason was an England poet, editor and gardener.He was born in Kingston upon Hull and educated at Hull Grammar School and St John's College, Cambridge....
1790: Henry James Pye
Henry James Pye

Henry James Pye was an England poet. Pye was Poet Laureate from 1790 until his death. He was the first poet laureate to receive a fixed salary of ?27 instead of the historic tierce of Canary wine ....
1813: Robert Southey
Robert Southey

Robert Southey was an English poet of the Romantic poetry school, one of the so-called "Lake Poets", and Poet Laureate for 30 years from 1813 to his death in 1843....
, on the refusal of Sir Walter Scott
Walter Scott

Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet, was a prolific Scotland historical novelist and poet popular throughout Europe during his time.In some ways Scott was the first English-language author to have a truly international career in his lifetime, with many contemporary readers all over Europe, Australia, and North America....
1843: William Wordsworth
William Wordsworth

William Wordsworth was a major England Romantic poetry poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romanticism in English literature with the 1798 joint publication Lyrical Ballads....
1850: Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson

Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson was Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom and remains one of the most popular English poets.Tennyson excelled at penning short lyrics, including "In the valley of Cauteretz", "Break, break, break", "The Charge of the Light Brigade ", "Tears, Idle Tears" and "Crossing the Bar"....
, on the refusal of Samuel Russell
1896: Alfred Austin
Alfred Austin

__FORCETOC__Alfred Austin was an England poet, who was appointed Poet Laureate in 1896 upon the death of Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson....
, on the refusal of William Morris
William Morris

William Morris was an English architect, furniture and textile designer, artist, writer, and Socialism associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and the English Arts and Crafts Movement....
1913: Robert Bridges
Robert Bridges

Robert Seymour Bridges, Order of Merit , was an English poet, and poet laureate from 1913 to 1930....
1930: John Masefield
John Masefield

John Edward Masefield, Order of Merit, was an English poet and writer, and Poet Laureate from 1930 until his death in 1967. He is remembered as the author of the classic children's novels The Midnight Folk and The Box of Delights, 19 other novels , and many memorable poems, including "The Everlasting Mercy" and "Sea-Fever", f...
, OM
1967: Cecil Day-Lewis
Cecil Day-Lewis

Cecil Day-Lewis Order of British Empire was an Ireland-born poet, as well as Poet Laureate for United Kingdom between 1968 to 1972, and, under the pseudonym of Nicholas Blake, a mystery writer....
, CBE
Order of the British Empire

The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a United Kingdom order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom....
1972: Sir John Betjeman, CBE
Order of the British Empire

The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a United Kingdom order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom....
1984: Ted Hughes
Ted Hughes

Edward James Hughes Order of Merit was an England poet and Children's literature, known as Ted Hughes. Critics routinely rank him as one of the best poets of his generation....
, OM, on the refusal of Philip Larkin
Philip Larkin

Philip Arthur Larkin, Order of the Companions of Honour, Commander of the British Empire, Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature , was a UK poet, novelist and jazz critic....
1999: Andrew Motion
Andrew Motion

Andrew Motion, Royal Society of Literature, is an England poet, novelist and biographer, who is the current Poet Laureate in the United Kingdom....
(for a ten year period)

Poets laureate in other countries

Canada

The Canadian Parliamentary Poet Laureate

Canadian Parliamentary Poet Laureate

The first ever Canadian Parliamentary Poet Laureate was awarded to George Bowering in 2002 in poetry. The title is granted in terms of two years; in 2004 in poetry the title was transferred to Pauline Michel and in 2006 in poetry to John Steffler....
is appointed as an officer of the Library of Parliament

Library of Parliament

File:LibraryReadingRoom.jpgThe Library of Parliament is the main information repository and research resource for the Parliament of Canada. The main branch of the library, which is the focus of this article, sits at the rear of the Centre Block, on Parliament Hill, in Ottawa, Ontario, and is the last untouched part of that larger building'...
. The position alternates between a english and french speaking laureate each term. Candidates must be able to write in both English and French, must have a substantial publication history (including poetry) displaying literary excellence and must have written work reflecting Canada, among other criteria.

The first ever Canadian Parliamentary Poet Laureate was awarded to George Bowering in 2002. In 2004, the title was transferred to Pauline Michel and in 2006 to John Steffler. His term ended on December 3, 2008; a new laureate will be named on April 1. Nominations for the position were open to residents of Canada up to September 2008.

Scotland

The Scots Makar
Makar

A makar is a term from Scottish literature for a poet or bard, often thought of as noble court poet, although the term can be more generally applied....
is the unpaid equivalent of a poet laureate to represent and promote poetry in Scotland

Scotland

conventional_long_name = ScotlandAlba|common_name= Scotland|image_flag = Flag of Scotland.svg|flag_width = 130px...
. On 16 February, 2004, Professor Edwin Morgan

Edwin Morgan

Edwin George Morgan OBE is a Scotland poet and translator who is associated with the Scottish Renaissance. He is widely recognised as one of the foremost Scottish poets of the 20th century....
was named to the post. Morgan is also known as the "Poet Laureate of Glasgow."

United States

The United States Library of Congress

Library of Congress

The Library of Congress is the de facto national library of the United States and the research arm of the United States Congress. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and holds the largest number of books....
has since 1937 appointed an official Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress. An Act of Congress changed the name of the position in 1985 to Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress
Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress

The Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress serves as the nation's official lightning rod for the poetic impulse of Americans....
. A number of the American states' legislatures have created official government positions which are occupied by prominent poets -- for example, Lawson Fusao Inada

Lawson Fusao Inada

Lawson Fusao Inada is an American poet and is currently the poet laureate of the U.S. state of Oregon....
was named "Oregon State Poet Laureate" in 2006.

On June 17, 2008, the Library of Congress announced Kay Ryan

Kay Ryan

Kay Ryan is an American poet and educator. She is the sixteenth Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress....
as the country's sixteenth Poet Laureate. Laureates receive a US$35,000

United States dollar

The United States dollar is the unit of currency of the United States and was defined by the Coinage Act of 1792 to be between 371 and 416 grains of silver ....
stipend and are given the responsibility of overseeing an ongoing series of poetry readings and lectures at the library, and a vague charge to promote poetry. No other duties are specified, and laureates are not required to compose for government events or in praise of government officials.

Previous U.S. Poets Laureate have included Charles Simic

Charles Simic

Du?an ?Charles? Simic is a Serbs-American poet, and co-Poetry Editor of the Paris Review. He was appointed the fifteenth Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 2007....
, Rita Dove

Rita Dove

Rita Frances Dove is an American poet and author. She was appointed Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1993, and received a second special appointment in 1999....
, Elizabeth Bishop

Elizabeth Bishop

Elizabeth Bishop was an American poet and writer. She was the Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 1949 to 1950, and a Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1956....
, Robert Frost

Robert Frost

Robert Lee Frost was an American poet. He is highly regarded for his realistic depictions of rural life and his command of American colloquial speech....
, Karl Shapiro

Karl Shapiro

Karl Jay Shapiro was an American poet. He was appointed the fifth Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1946....
, Allen Tate

Allen Tate

John Orley Allen Tate was an American poet, essayist, social commentator, and Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 1943 to 1944....
, Robert Penn Warren

Robert Penn Warren

Robert Penn Warren was an American poet, novelist, and literary critic, and one of the founders of New Criticism. He was also a charter member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers....
, Richard Wilbur

Richard Wilbur

Richard Purdy Wilbur is an American poet. He was appointed the sixth Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1987, and twice received the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1957 and in 1989....
, Joseph Brodsky

Joseph Brodsky

Iosif Aleksandrovich Brodsky was a Russian poet, essayist, and Nobel Prize in Literature. He was appointed Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1991....
, Stanley Kunitz

Stanley Kunitz

Stanley Jasspon Kunitz was an American poet. He was twice appointed Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1974 and again in 2000....
, Robert Hass

Robert Hass

Robert L. Hass is a Pulitzer Prize winning American poet. He served as Poet Laureate of the United States from 1995 to 1997. He was awarded the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Time and Materials....
, Donald Hall

Donald Hall

Donald Hall is an American poet. He was appointed Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 2004....
, Robert Pinsky

Robert Pinsky

Robert Pinsky is an American poet, essayist, literary criticism, and translator. From 1997 to 2000, he served as Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress....
, Billy Collins

Billy Collins

William ?Billy? Collins is an American Poetry of the United States. He served two terms as the Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2001 to 2003....
, Mark Strand

Mark Strand

Mark Strand is an American poet, essayist, and translator. He was appointed Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1990....
, Louise Glück

Louise Glück

Louise Elisabeth Gl?ck is an American poet. She was appointed Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1999, and again in 2003, after serving as a Special Bicentennial Consultant three years prior in 2000....
and Ted Kooser

Ted Kooser

Ted Kooser is an American poet. He was appointed Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 2004....
, among others.

Wales

Wales has had a long tradition of poets and bards under royal patronage, with extant writing from mediæval royal poets

Medieval Welsh literature

Mediaeval Welsh literature is the medieval literature written in the Welsh language during the Middle Ages. This includes material from the time of the tongue's formation between the 5th and 8th centuries to the works of the 16th century....
and earlier. An office of National Poet for Wales

National Poet for Wales

The post of National Poet of Wales was established in May 2005 by Yr Academi Gymreig ? the Welsh National Literature Promotion Agency and Society for Writers....
was established in April 2005. The first holder, Gwyneth Lewis

Gwyneth Lewis

Gwyneth Lewis BA MA D.Phil is a Wales poet, and was the first National Poet for Wales....
, was followed by Gwyn Thomas

Gwyn Thomas (poet)

Professor Gwyn Thomas , is a Wales poet, academic and a former National Poet for Wales.Raised in Tanygrisiau and Blaenau Ffestiniog, Thomas was educated at Ysgol Sir Ffestiniog, University of Wales, Bangor and Jesus College, Oxford; Prof Thomas is presently Emeritus Professor of Welsh at the University of Wales, Bangor....
.

New Zealand

New Zealand has only had an official poet laureate for a few years. Originally sponsored by Te Mata vineyards and known as the Te Mata Estate Poet Laureate, the award is now administered by the National Library of New Zealand

National Library of New Zealand

The National Library of New Zealand is New Zealand's legal deposit library and a state sector organisations in New Zealand, charged with the obligation to 'enrich the cultural and economic life of New Zealand and its interchanges with other nations' ....
and the holder is officially called New Zealand Poet Laureate. The post is held for two years.

The first holder of the title was Bill Manhire

Bill Manhire

Bill Manhire New Zealand Order of Merit, is an award-winning New Zealand poet, short story writer, and professor....
who held the post of Poet Laureate from 1998-99. Other former Poets Laureate include, Hone Tuwhare

Hone Tuwhare

Hone Tuwhare was a noted New Zealand poet of Maori ancestry. He is closely associated with The Catlins in the Otago region of New Zealand, where he lived for the latter part of his life....
(2000-01), Elizabeth Smither (2002-03), Brian Turner

Brian Turner (New Zealand poet)

Brian Turner is a New Zealand poet. He played hockey for New Zealand in the 1960s; senior cricket in Dunedin and Wellington; and was a veteran road cyclist of note....
(2004-05) and Jenny Bornholdt

Jenny Bornholdt

Jennifer Mary Bornholdt is an award-winning New Zealand poet and anthologist....
(2006-07). The current (2008-09) Poet Laureate is Michele Leggott

Michele Leggott

Michele Joy Leggott MNZM is a New Zealand poet, and Associate Professor of English at the University of Auckland. She was born in Stratford, New Zealand, and received her secondary education at New Plymouth Girls High School, before attending the University of Canterbury where she completed an Master of Arts in English studies in 1979....
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Other

Kannadasan
Kannadasan

Kannadasan was a Tamil people poet and lyricist, heralded as one of the greatest and most important writer in the Tamil language. Frequently called Kaviarasu , Kannadasan was most familiar for his song lyrics in Tamil films and contributed around 5000 lyrics besides 6000 poems and 232 books, including novels, epics, plays, essays,...
was the poet laureate of Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 States and territories of India of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai . Tamil Nadu lies in the southern most part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by Puducherry , Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh....
at the time of his death.
William Auld
William Auld

William Auld was a Scotland author and the deputy director of a grammar school. He began to study Esperanto in 1937, but only became active in the propagation of the language in 1947, and from then on wrote many works in Esperanto....
is sometimes considered the poet laureate of Esperantujo
Esperantujo

Esperantujo or Esperantio is a term used by speakers of the International auxiliary language Esperanto to refer to the Esperanto culture and the activities going on in the language....
.
Hanns Johst
Hanns Johst

Hanns Johst was a Germany playwright and Nazism Poet Laureate.Hanns Johst was born in Seehausen as the son of an elementary school teacher. He grew up in Oschatz and Leipzig....
was poet laureate of Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany and the Third Reich are the colloquial English names for Germany under the regime of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party , which established a Totalitarianism dictatorship that existed from 1933 to 1945....
from 1935 to 1945.
Derek Walcott
Derek Walcott

Derek Alton Walcott is a West Indies poet, playwright, writer and visual artist who writes mainly in English language. Born in Castries, St. Lucia, he won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1992....
is the poet laureate of Saint Lucia
Saint Lucia

Saint Lucia is an island nation in the eastern Caribbean Sea on the boundary with the Atlantic Ocean. Part of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the islands of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, northwest of Barbados and south of Martinique....
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Poet Laureate

Etymology

History

Poets laureate of England

Mediaeval

Tudors

1599 to the present

Poets laureate in other countries

Canada

Scotland

United States

Wales

New Zealand

Other

External links