WS Merwin US Laureate

W.S. Merwin, has been named Poet Laureate of the United States. Merwin, who lives in Hawaii, is one of this country’s most distinguished, decorated, and productive poets. Previous writers selected by the Librarian of Congress include Robert Penn Warren, Richard Wilbur, Rita Dove, Joseph Brodsky, Robert Pinsky, and Kay Ryan.

Merwin has also been awarded the Pulitzer Prize twice. The first was for his book The Carrier of Ladders – poems touching on man’s connection with nature, contrasting with his lust for power and destruction. The second prize was for his collection The Shadow of Sirius. Over several decades, Merwin’s poetry has reflected his position against the Vietnam War, his interest in Buddhist philosophy, ecology, environmentalism, wildlife habitats, and the restoration of Hawaii’s rainforests.

He lives on 18 acres of land that started as a tropical forest, then was logged and burned, then used for sugar cane and pineapple, and finally for grazing cattle. Merwin wanted to re-create a Hawaiian tropical forest, so he hauled loads of horse manure, wood chips, and seaweed onto the property to rejuvenate the soil depleted from decades of erosion. Hundreds of species of native trees, palms, and plants now form a canopy around his home in secluded Maui. He also helped design and build his wooden house, install solar panels for electricity, and a roof catchment system to capture rainwater.

He has developed a close relationship with the native culture and ancient language, and has incorporated Hawaii subjects in his poetry. His work The Folding Cliffs is a story about the destruction wrought by Westerners and the struggle of Koolau the leper to remain with his family in Kauai’s Kalalau Valley shortly after the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy. Since living in Hawaii, Merwin has written more than a dozen books.

About poetry, he says, “It’s like making a joke. If you get one word wrong at the end of a joke, you’ve lost the whole thing.”