|
MONTPELIER, VT—Governor Phil Scott has named award-winning Brandon poet and teacher Bianca Stone the next Vermont Poet Laureate.
“The Poet Laureate has a storied history in Vermont, beginning with Robert Frost, and I want to congratulate Bianca Stone on receiving this important recognition,” said Governor Phil Scott. “I also greatly appreciate the work of the selection committee, and all those who put their names forward for their contributions to our state.”
Stone is the author of five books, including the poetry collections, What is Otherwise Infinite (Tin House, 2022), winner of the 2022 Vermont Book Award; The Möbius Strip Club of Grief (Tin House, 2018); and Someone Else’s Wedding Vows (Octopus Books and Tin House, 2014). She collaborated with Anne Carson on the illuminated version of Antigonick (New Directions, 2012). Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, Poets and Writers, The Nation, and elsewhere. She co-founded the poetry-based nonprofit Ruth Stone House, where she teaches classes on poetry and poetic study and hosts the Ode & Psyche Podcast, and is editor-at-large for ITERANT magazine.
The Poet Laureate serves as Vermont’s ambassador for the art of poetry for a four-year term. Robert Frost was named the first Vermont Poet Laureate in 1961. In 1988, Governor Madeleine Kunin re-established the position. Galway Kinnell was the first Poet Laureate named for a term of four years. Since then, Louise Glück, Ellen Bryant Voigt, Grace Paley, Sydney Lea, and Chard deNiord have also held the position. Mary Ruefle is the most recent Poet Laureate. Ruth Stone, Bianca Stone’s grandmother, was poet laureate from 2007-2011.
"Poetry has such an intricate relationship to place, and this appointment speaks to my love of the landscape and people here. I'm honored to stand with those laureates—including my grandmother—who have come before, continuing the work of cultivating a rich literary tradition in the Green Mountains,” Stone said upon the appointment.
As Poet Laureate, Stone is interested in increasing awareness of the power of poetry. She would like to engage Vermont teachers, students, and librarians in the world of poetry, and reach people in other communities who don’t necessarily engage with poetry through readings and in-depth discussions.
“Poetry brings the inner and outer world together and translates consciousness itself onto the page. It is not only relevant to our lives, but crucial in exploring what it is to be in this world,” Stone said. “It is perhaps one of the most playful and serious mediums we have. But it is often misunderstood.”
Nominations for poet laureate were accepted from the public to the Vermont Arts Council and its partners, Vermont Humanities, Poetry Society of Vermont, and Sundog Poetry, beginning last summer. Over 200 nominations for 31 Vermont poets were reviewed by an external panel in several rounds. The Vermont Arts Council has managed the Vermont Poet Laureate selection process since its re-establishment in 1988.
A formal appointment ceremony with Governor Scott is being planned for late spring.
For more information about the Vermont Poet Laureate, visit https://www.vermontartscouncil.org/programs/vermont-poet-laureate/
###
About the Vermont Arts Council
The Vermont Arts Council envisions a Vermont where all people have access to the arts and creativity in their lives, education, and communities. Engagement with the arts transforms individuals, connects us more deeply to each other, energizes the economy, and sustains the vibrant cultural landscape that makes Vermont a great place to live. Since 1965, the Council has been the state's primary provider of funding, advocacy, and information for the arts in Vermont. Learn more at www.vermontartscouncil.org
| 
