Big congrats to Charles Wright, who was named the 20th United States Poet Laureate and follows Natasha Tretheway, who held the post for two years in a row. Like Tretheway, Wright is a southerner. A Tennessee native and graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, he won the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize in 1993 and went on to win the Pulitzer and Griffin Prize. He also won the National Book Award for his collection Country Music. Regarding the selection, Robert Polito, president of the Poetry Foundation said, “He’s long been one of my favorite poets. His work, while rooted in a vivid sense of place, crosses all borders — geographic, aesthetic, and cultural. Charles is modest, but brilliant, an essential contemporary metaphysical poet. I can’t wait to see what his projects and initiatives will be.”

Here’s a link to several of Wright’s poems and an interview/overview of his work. It’s worth checking out!