Laux, Young Join Academy of American Poets Board
Dorianne Laux and Kevin Young have been elected to the Academy of American Poets' board of chancellors. Laux and Young will consult with the organization on matters of artistic programming, serve as judges for the organization’s largest legacy prizes for poets, and act as ambassadors of poetry in the world at large. They were selected by the current members—Elizabeth Alexander, Ellen Bass, Marilyn Chin, Kwame Dawes, Forrest Gander, Linda Gregerson, Terrance Hayes, Brenda Hillman, Marie Howe, David St. John, Alicia Ostriker, and Natasha Trethewey—and will be filling the seats vacated by Khaled Mattawa and Alberto Ríos, whose six-year terms have concluded.
Only 115 poets have been named chancellors since the board was formed in 1946. Poets among that number include W. H. Auden, John Ashbery, Elizabeth Bishop, Lucille Clifton, Rita Dove, Yusef Komunyakaa, Claudia Rankine, Adrienne Rich, Naomi Shihab Nye, Mark Strand, and Arthur Sze.
