Asking Quote by Rita Dove

It's the combination of the intimate and the public that I find so exciting about being poet laureate.

— Rita Dove

There are distinct duties of a poet laureate. I plan a reading series at the Library of Congress and advise the librarian. The rest…

— Rita Dove

Being Poet Laureate made me realize I was capable of a larger voice. There is a more public utterance I can make as a…

— Rita Dove

I'm a student at Harvard University, and currently work as the United States Youth Poet Laureate, a community organizer, and an activist.

— Amanda Gorman

I am a self-appointed ambassador for poetry.

— Anne Waldman

To be poet laureate is to try to spread the love and the accessibility of poetry to young people.

— Jacqueline Woodson

I've written on public matters, but I don't understand how anyone could tout me as a possible poet laureate when I wrote a poem…

— Tony Harrison

As poet laureate, I was asked to be a spokesman for literature.

— Robert Hass

I think one of the things that distinguished my work from the beginning when I was in college was my turning towards poetry from…

— Edward Hirsch

I want to be a poet and have a chance to explore that and let people know what's really on my mind.

— Christina Aguilera

The laureateship [of U.S. Children's Poet] has brought me a couple of appealing contracts, including my first anthology, the 200-poem The National Geographic Book…

— J. Patrick Lewis

I've always considered myself a poet in everything that I do, whether it's photography or movie-making.

— Gerard Malanga