Kentucky’s literary community was thrilled last month to learn that poet Ada Limón has been named Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry. Limón, who is originally from Southern California, has been a Lexington resident for the past ten years and is active in the local literary community. She is the author of six collections of poetry, one of which won a National Book Critics Circle Award. Limón is on the faculty for the low residency MFA program at Queens University of Charlotte. She also hosts an American Public Media podcast series “The Slowdown” (which recently featured a poem by KSPS Vice President Danni Quintos) that is aired in partnership with the Poetry Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Limón is the 24th individual to hold the Library of Congress position in poetry and the 3rd with Kentucky roots. Allen Tate, born in Winchester, and Robert Penn Warren, of Guthrie, both served in the 1940’s, and Warren also held the position in 1986-1987.
Ada Limón has many fans and admirers among KSPS members. If you’re not familiar with her work, I suggest you sample her latest volume The Hurting Kind. Craig Teicher gave it a fine review in the June 5 issue of The New York Times Book Review. You won’t be disappointed.
–Mary Allen
Kentucky State Poetry Society 