US poet laureate Arthur Sze has been appointed to a second one-year term by the Library of Congress, where he has served without incident despite last year's ouster of Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden, per the AP. Sze, a highly regarded poet and translator, said Tuesday that he plans to travel the country with his project "Words Bridging Worlds," which will include readings, discussions, and workshops.
Sze, 75, began his first term as poet laureate last fall, during a time of upheaval at the library. President Trump had fired Hayden a few months earlier, part of his battle against what he calls "woke" culture in government institutions. But since Hayden's departure, the Library of Congress has mostly remained out of the news and continued to hold traditional events such as the National Book Festival. The White House named then-Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche as the acting librarian, but the library's announcements about each of Sze's appointments identify longtime library official Robert Randolph Newlen as acting librarian.
Laureates, who are expected to avoid political commentary, have a mission to "raise the national consciousness to a greater appreciation of the reading and writing of poetry," according to the library's website. Sze's predecessors include Joy Harjo, Robert Pinsky, and Billy Collins. Sze's poetry collections include Sight Lines, winner of the National Book Award, and Compass Rose, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Transient Worlds, in which Sze highlights poetry in translation, was published Tuesday.
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