Poetry at Work: The Work of a Poet Laureate

In 2011 here at Tweetspeak Poetry, I reviewed Why the House is Made of Gingerbread: Poems by Ama Leavell Haymon, a retelling of the story of Hansel and Gretel in poetic form (with a few additional poems as well). We also featured one of her poems that year for National Poetry Month.

Her other collections of poetry include The Strict Economy of Fire (2004), Kitchen Heat (2006), and Eldest Daughter (August 2013). All, including the Gingerbread poems (2010), are published by LSU Press (proving, and I occasionally have to do, that my alma mater is about more than football). On Friday, I received an email from LSU announcing that Haymon had just been named Louisiana’s poet laureate.

Yes, I know what you’re thinking. “Louisiana has a poet laureate? Who knew?” Well, Louisiana does have a poet laureate, and for the next two years it’s Haymon. (She conveniently lives in Baton Rouge, the state capital.)

To continue reading, please see my post today at Tweetspeak Poetry.