New U.S. Poet Laureate Named

Stanley Kunitz, 95, will become the 10th poet laureate of the United States in the fall, the Library of Congress announced Monday.

He published his first book of poetry in 1930 and has since produced nine more. Said one of Kunitz’s verses in 1958, the year he won the Pulitzer Prize:

I recognize the gods’ capricious hand,

And write this poem for money, rage and love.

Kunitz, a former reporter and college professor, will succeed Robert Pinsky, who has held the post for three years.

Kunitz said he accepted on the assurance he wouldn’t need to move to Washington. “The reason I decided to accept this honor is that I want to do something for the young in this country,” he said.

Kunitz and his wife, painter Elise Asher, live in New York’s Greenwich Village and in Provincetown, Mass. As poet laureate, he gets an office in the Library of Congress and a $35,000 salary.