CONGRATULATIONS FROM QUEENS COLLEGE
MFA FACULTY AND STUDENTS!
Elizabeth Alexander, poet and professor of African American studies at Yale University, has been commissioned by President-elect Barack Obama to compose and read a poem for his inauguration. This honor makes her the fourth poet in American history to read at one and—to quote today’s N. Y. Times article—“[elevates] the art to unaccustomed prominence in the national psyche, at least for a day.” Ms. Alexander commented that Mr. Obama is attuned to the value of poetry: “He has said the precise and distilled and mindful language of poetry is perhaps something that can create a moment of meditation for us.” Answering Wall St. Journal interviewer’s question on what this occasion means in terms of the national literary life, she replied, “It says culture matters, that it’s transforming and not merely stirring, that it’s fundamental to ways in which we can think about moving forward.” And how far along is the poem? “I have bits and pieces. It’s a process that doesn’t come sharply into the clear until a little further down the line. When I compose poetry, I don’t think themes, I begin with language. I do believe that form and function are united, that they go together. But I don’t start with an idea that I wish to express in poetry.” And will this honor change her life? “If it means those things that I’m trained to talk about will get more hearing, that would be fantastic.”
