Sonya Sanchez has been selected as the first poet laureate of the city of Philadelphia. Sanchez, 77, will serve a two-year term starting in January with a $2,500 per-year stipend. Mayor Michael Nutter conceived the laureate idea because "Poetry is an extraordinary and powerful art form, and our great city is filled with an astonishing array of poets who help us to better understand our lives." From the Philadelphia Inquirer:
"People are saying, 'This makes sense, because people have been calling you the unofficial poet laureate for years,' " Sanchez said. "And I say, 'Well, the people are always way ahead of the government.' "
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"That Philadelphia has taken this step, declaring the importance of poetry to civic life and polity, makes me very happy," said Al Filreis, professor of English at the University of Pennsylvania and faculty director of Kelly Writers House who is also a member of the selection committee. "I've lived in the city for 26 years now and have never felt our poetry to be as diversely alive as it is now."
Sonia Sanchez was born in Birmingham, Alabama, raised and college-educated in New York City, taught in San Francisco, and moved to Philadelphia in 1976. She is the author of a lot of books of poetry, including Shake Loose My Skin: New and Selected Poems (1999) and Does your house have lions? (1995), which was nominated for both the NAACP Image and National Book Critics Circle Award. Homegirls & Handgrenades (1984) won an American Book Award from the Before Columbus Foundation. She is also a playwright, the author of children's books, and an anthology editor.
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