April is National Poetry Month in the U.S., and each year I've tried to post a new item on this blog related to Alabama poets and poetry. I also post a number of such items on my Twitter account @ajwright31. I've written about Sara Henderson Hay, who grew up in Anniston. I've done posts on the Anthology of Alabama Poetry published in 1928 and Alabama Horizons, a collection that appeared in 1999. Well-known author Langston Hughes wrote four poems related to Alabama, and I've written about those. I've also posted about Alabama poetry at other times of the year.
This year I thought I'd write something about the state's poet laureate program. In 1930 the Alabama Writers Conclave [now Cooperative] established the post and named Samuel Mintern Peck to it. The following year the legislature formally recognized the poet laureate position by law. Today the AWC nominates and the governor formally makes the appointment. Since 1983 terms have been limited to four years. This person is the official public face of poetry in Alabama.
Below are the state's poet laureates with term dates, life dates, and links for more information. The black and white photos were taken from the 2000 anthology of laureate poems noted at the end of the post. I originally wanted to include an image of a book by each person, but decided against that to keep the length reasonable.
Oh, and two Alabama cities have recently named poet laureates. Birmingham's is Salaam Green and Mobile's is Charlotte Pence. These positions are funded by the Alabama State Council on the Arts.
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