Marilyn Nelson Of Storrs Named State Poet Laureate

HARTFORD — The Connecticut Commission on the Arts has named Marilyn Nelson of Storrs as Poet Laureate for the State of Connecticut.

Ms Nelson was recommended to the commission by a panel of five distinguished literary professionals who considered several dozen nominations of poets submitted by the public. She will serve a five-year term in the honorary position, which was created by the General Assembly to recognize a Connecticut poet of the highest distinction. She succeeds Leo Connellan, who passed away in February, two months shy of completing his term, and his predecessor, James Merrill.

Marilyn Nelson is the author of six books of poetry, two children’s collections, and several chapbooks. Her work has also appeared in numerous anthologies and literary collections. She has been described as “a poet of stunning power, able to bring alive the most rarified and subtle of experiences.”

“Marilyn Nelson’s presence in Connecticut has greatly enriched the state,” said Susan Holmes, the artistic programs director at University of Connecticut, who nominated Ms Nelson for Poet Laureate. “She is a vital American voice speaking of our past and present from her multiple perspectives of daughter, mother, wife, artist, teacher, friend and African-American.”

“Her teaching and support of young writers has been exceptional, and her readings of her work are not only wonderfully entertaining, but memorable and inspiring,” Ms Holmes added.

“Marilyn’s body of work and her warm demeanor are among the great treasures of Connecticut,” said Andy Thibault, a Commission on the Arts board member and a columnist for The Connecticut Law Tribune. “She brings great honor and integrity to the position of Poet Laureate. I applaud the clear and compelling choice of the selection committee.”

Commission on the Arts executive director John Ostrout added, “Connecticut is so richly endowed with talent writers and poets who contribute to our knowledge and enjoyment, and to the development of young minds. We are honored to have Marilyn Nelson, as Poet Laureate, represent the literary professionals in our state who are such a valuable creative resource.”

Marilyn Nelson’s book, The Homeplace, was a finalist for the 1991 National Book Award and won the 1992 Annisfield-Wolf Award. The Fields of Praise: New and Selected Poems was a finalist for the 1997 National Book Award, The PEN Winship Award and The Lenore Marshall Prize, and won the 1998 Poet’s Prize.

Her most recent work, Carver: A Life in Poems, movingly tells the story of the botanist and inventor George Washington Carver in verse. Of the book, Ashley Bryan states, “Marilyn Nelson has crafted spare, singing lines that succeed in creating a biography in poems that brilliantly evoke Carter’s life.”