“Now that the earth as we know it is in climate crisis, I am drawn, as are other poets, to write poems about endangered species, dramatic storms, famines, floods, plagues, cities sinking, forest fires. But when environmental grief thrums and stirs me, I’m not restricted to writing elegy, nor to writing of the future’s blighted earth on the way to or after the sixth extinction. The most valuable climate poems will also explore in language how to free ourselves from the illusion that we human beings are separate, rewriting our sense of what it means to see everything, including ourselves, as interrelated subjects (not objects) in a living flux and immediacy.”
–Margaret Gibson, in “Listening to the Thrush: Notes toward the Greening of Poetry in a Time of Global Climate Crisis,” an essay published in The Georgia Review, Fall, 2020.
The panelists from the Department of Economic and Community Development’s Office of Arts & culture, who were the ones that selected Margaret as Connecticut’s Poet Laureate, released the following citation:
“Throughout a long, distinguished career as poet, educator, and activist for peace and justice, Margaret Gibson’s lyric poetry interrogates and illumines the connection between our inner and outer worlds. Her 12 collections exhibit intelligence, meditative reflection, and an ever-deepening courage to reckon with uncertainty. Whether chronicling her beloved husband’s shared journey through Alzheimer’s, locating stillness in Japanese wood block prints, or re-imagining the life of a revolutionary female photographer, Gibson’s revelatory poems draw readers into experiences of what the poet herself describes as “the lovely thusness of each thing, its intricate and unrepeatable being.” She achieves what is perhaps most difficult in verse—expressing the near-ineffable with resonant feeling and apparent spontaneity while exercising minute, rigorous attention to craft. As Connecticut Poet Laureat, she will encourage and listen to the voices of others and bring to the position a demonstrated dedication to building an engaged, caring community.”
The honorary position of Connecticut Poet Laureate was established in 1985 by the State of Connecticut. As the state’s representative poet, the Poet Laureate serves as an advocate for poetry and promotes the appreciation of — and participation in — poetry and literary arts activities among Connecticut citizens. The panelists who chose Gibson were poets Daniel Donaghy, Marie Harris, Alison Meyers and Marilyn Nelson.
Margaret Gibson from Preston, Connecticut is Connecticut’s 7th State Poet Laureate. Click the button below to see my CT Poet Laureate page.
Read Poems Written by Margaret
Poet Laureate Selected Articles
The Hartford Courant: UConn professor Margaret Gibson named Connecticut’s seventh poet laureate
Connecticut Magazine: Connecticut’s New Poet Laureate Has Something To Say
Poetic possibilities: Grant recipient Margaret Gibson seeks to expand programs state-wide
Connecticut Poet Laureate Margaret Gibson is the recipient of a $50,000 grant from the Academy of American Poets. The award, part of the organization’s 2020 Poet Laureate Fellowship Program, was one of 23 similar grants presented to 23 writers who serve as poets laureate of states, cities, counties, and the Navajo Nation.
23 Poets Laureate Receive Fellowships for Projects Around the U.S.
The program, now in its second year, was expanded from 13 poets in 2019 thanks to a $4.5 million grant from the Mellon Foundation.
The Academy of American Poets Awards $1.1 Million to Poets Laureate
The Academy of American Poets Awards $1.1 Million to Poets Laureate