King Quote by Tony Harrison

People write me from all over the country, asking me, and sometimes even telling me, what they think a poet laureate should do. I…

— 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

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

— Rita Dove

Anybody who instantly goes from being a poet and a graduate student to being a public figure has to be in a state of…

— Erica Jong

Those who say we should dismantle the role of Poet Laureate altogether, the trick they miss is that being called this thing, with the…

— Andrew Motion

You don't have to be a poet, you don't have to be a politician or be in the White House to make an impact…

— Amanda Gorman

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

— Robert Hass

A poem I write is not just about me; it is about national identity, not just regional but national, the history of people in…

— Natasha Trethewey

I do have an honorary professorship in Poetics from the Vienna Academy of Arts. So I have not gone completely unnoticed

— Blixa Bargeld

I'm a struggling poet. I've never shown my work to anyone. I write it all for myself and I'm not interested in showing it…

— Kunal Kapoor

I alwaysthought of myself as a competent, minor poet. I know who I'm up against.

— Leonard Cohen

As a public poet, people often don't see the reality of my life.

— Amanda Gorman