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The Library of Congress, which announced the appointment on
Wednesday, said Herrera, 68, will become the 21st U.S. poet
laureate when he takes up the position in the fall. He succeeds
Charles Wright.
"I see in Herrera's poems the work of an American original, work
that takes the sublimity and largesse of 'Leaves of Grass' and
expands upon it," Librarian of Congress James H. Billington said
in a statement.
"His poems engage in a serious sense of play, in language and in
image, that I feel gives them enduring power," he added.
Born in Fowler, California, Herrera lived in tents and trailers
as a child as his family moved around the state. A graduate of
the University of California, Los Angeles, he has also written
novels for young adults, collections for children and the
picture book "Portraits of Hispanic American Heroes."
His most recent of book of poems is "Senegal Taxi," published in
2013.
"This is a mega-honor for me, for my family and my parents who
came up north before and after the Mexican Revolution of 1910,
the honor is bigger than me," he said.
Herrera is also the author of more than a dozen poetry
collections and received the National Book Critics Circle Award
and the International Latino Book Award.
He is the recipient of two Latino Hall of Fame Poetry Awards,
several PEN prizes and had fellowships from the Guggenheim
Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Currently a visiting profession at the University of Washington,
Seattle, he also served as the Poet Laureate of California from
2012-2015.
The poet laureate is selected for a one-year term by the
Librarian of Congress.
(Reporting by Patricia Reaney in New York Editing by W Simon)
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