Sacred Heart Honors Women Poets Laureate in Virtual Colloquium

There have been six female poet consultants and seven female poet laureates since 1937

Sacred Heart University recently conducted a virtual colloquium honoring the 13 women who have held the prestigious title of the nation’s poet consultant and, more recently, poet laureate, since the U.S. Congress established the position in 1937. Back then, the U.S. began to celebrate poetry and the craft of writing with annual appointments of a “Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress,” or poet consultant, chosen by the librarian of Congress. The title changed to “Poet Laureate Consultant of Poetry” in 1992. 

The colloquium, titled, “Hear Her Voice: Women Poets Laureate,” honored the American women who have held these positions with readings of their poems, accompanied by brief biographies. Faculty members were assigned a poet and recited one or two poems each, as follows. The event was coordinated and led by June-Ann Greeley, associate professor of languages & literature.

Louise Bogan: Appointed as the country’s fourth consultant of poetry in 1945, Bogan became the first woman to carry this title. Many of her works were published throughout the 1920s and 1930s. Caitlin Merritt, adjunct professor of philosophy and Catholic studies at SHU, presented two works by Bogan, Medusa and Song for the Last Act.

Léonie Adams: The nation’s seventh poet consultant held the post in 1948. Adams wrote poetry that often focused on nature and how she existed in her environment, with a style similar to that of 17th-century metaphysical poetry. Rachel Bauer, lecturer of theatre arts, introduced Adams poetry and read two of her works, Never Enough Living and Alas, Kind Element!

Elizabeth Bishop: The next female poet consultant was named to the post one year after Adams. Bishop was born in 1911 and raised by two sets of grandparents after losing her parents at a young age. She resided in multiple countries throughout her life, including Brazil for a time. Abby Bender, assistant lecturer of languages and literature, read Sestina and One Art by Bishop. 

Josephine Jacobsen: Canadian-born, Jacobsen was appointed poet consultant in 1971. Poetry provided solace for her as she grew up with parents who suffered from depression. Ultimately, she published more than 11 volumes of her poems, which encompassed the physical and the spiritual, centering on the mystery of humanity. Nidhi Shrivastava, adjunct instructor of languages and literature, read Jacobsen’s Let Each Man Remember and Language as an Escape from the Discrete. 

Maxine Kumin: Appointed poet consultant in 1981, Kumin’s proto-feminist poetry was fairly domestic, covering everyday life. Greeley presented Kumin’s poems, Where I Live and Six Weeks After.

Gwendolyn Brooks: This poet started young, publishing her first works at age 13. Brooks became the first Black woman appointed as poet consultant, a position she held in 1985, and she also was the first African-American to win the Pulitzer Prize. She was a great champion of other poets, sometimes paying for their awards out of her own pocket, according to Emily Bryan, lecturer of Catholic studies. Bryan read Brooks’ The Pool Players/Seven at the Golden Shovel, which prompted poet Terrance Hayes to create a new poetry form called the golden shovel.

Mona Van Duyn: The esteemed title changed to poet laureate in 1992, the year Van Duyn was appointed. She had attended Iowa schools, where she studied education and, in 1950, she co-founded the literary journal, Perspective: A Quarterly of Literature and the Arts, with her husband. Cara Kilgallen, associate professor of English and chair of languages and literature.

Rita Dove: After earning an MFA from the University of Virginia in 1977, Dove produced her first collection of poetry in 1980, won the Pulitzer Prize in 1986 and served as poet laureate from 1993 to 1995. Jennifer McLaughlin, instructor of history, spoke about Dove before reading her poem, Lady Freedom Among Us.

Louise Glück: The 2003 poet laureate, who was born on Long Island in 1943, struggled with anorexia, said Richard Magee, professor of languages and literature. Gluck is an autobiographical poet who won the Pulitzer Prize in 2020. Magee read her poem, Pastoral.

Kay Ryan: Serving a double term as poet laureate, from 2008 to 2010, Ryan, a champion of American community colleges, also won the Pulitzer Prize during her third year in the post. Sara Ross, department chair of media and theatre arts and associate professor in the School of Communication, Media & the Arts, introduced Ryan and read two of her poems, Atlas and Blue China Doorknob. 

Natasha Trethewey: Born in 1966 to a mixed-race couple, Trethewey’s poetry harkens to her experiences growing up in Mississippi: a cross burned on the front yard, racist language and her mother’s murder. Her poetry also examines national history and identities and voices from a more distant past, such as the Civil War. Sandra Young, associate professor of languages and literature, introduced Trethewey, who became poet laureate in 2012, and read two of her poems, Imperatives for Carrying On in the Aftermath and Duty, which she wrote about her father. 

Tracy K. Smith: Appointed in 2017, Smith’s poetry aims to address social ills and to give guidance. She won the Pulitzer Prize in 2011 and is also an editor and podcaster. Greeley introduced her work and read her poems, An Old Story and Ghazal.

Joy Harjo: The first Native American poet laureate, Harjo accepted the position in 2019 and recently was appointed to her third term. She often focuses on indigenous people in America, writing An American Sunrise in 2019 about Andrew Jackson’s Indian Removal Act of 1830. This poem follows Brooks’ golden shovel form and incorporates her poem, The Pool Players/Seven at the Golden Shovel at the end. Bryan, who previously read that poem for the colloquium, introduced Harjo and compared the two poems.

Pictured: Professor Emily Bryan