JUAN Felipe Herrera, the son of migrant farm workers and the author of 28 books of poetry, novels for young adults and collections for children, was named the US Poet Laureate yesterday, the first Hispanic appointed to the position.
The Library of Congress, which announced the appointment on Wednesday, said Herrera, 68, will become the 21st US Poet Laureate when he succeeds Charles Wright in the autumnfall. “I see in Herrera’s poems the work of an American original, work that takes the sublimity and largesse of Leaves Of Grass and expands upon it,” Congress librarian James H Billington said in a statement. “His poems engage in a serious sense of play, in language and in image, that I feel gives them enduring power.”
Born in Fowler, California, Herrera lived in tents and trailers as a child as his family moved around the state before enrolling at the University of California, Los Angeles, he has also written novels for young adults, collections for children and the picture book “Portraits of Hispanic American Heroes.”. Paying tribute to his family, he said: “This is a mega honour for me, my family and my parents who came up north before and after the Mexican Revolution of 1910, the honour is bigger than me.” His most recent book of poems is Senegal Taxi published in 2013.
Herrera is also the author of more than a dozen poetry collections and received the National Book Critics Circle Award and the International Latino Book Award
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here