Poetry and Democracy

A Conversation with Robert Pinsky

Abstract

Robert Pinsky is one of America's best-known poets and critics. Born in 1940 in New Jersey, his own writing, as well as his three terms as Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress (1997–2000), have been critical to creating a robust dialogue in American poetry. Author of more than nineteen books that span the genres of poetry, essay, translation, and libretto, his oeuvre is a testimony to the essential place of poetry in America. A memoir, entitled Jersey Breaks, will be published this October. The founder of the Favorite Poem Project (videos available at www.favoritepoem.org), Pinsky has received numer- ous honorary doctorates and is the recipient of many awards including a Pre- mio Capri (Italy), the Los Angeles Times Book Award and the Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize. His volume, The Figured Wheel: New and Collected Poems, was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry.