The state of New Hampshire has named Dartmouth creative writing professor Cynthia Huntington the state's new poet laureate.
The honorary position will enable Huntington to promote an appreciation of contemporary poetry both in-state and around the country, the professor hopes.
Huntington was selected last week by the Poetry Society of New Hampshire and Gov. Craig Benson. She expects her appointment to be approved sometime this week and to be sworn in during March or April.
While the position has no established duties, the poet laureate traditionally reads poetry at several state ceremonies, including the gubernatorial inauguration.
Huntington has not yet planned any specific programs to undertake as poet laureate. "I'd like to involve the kinds of things that I've always done and maybe put them on a larger scale," she said, noting that she will receive no official funding and will, therefore, face some difficulty in accomplishing her goals.
As program director for the New Hampshire Writers Project and a member of its board of trustees, Huntington held poetry readings and teaching workshops in and out of the state.
"That's the kind of thing that I'll continue to do," she said.
Huntington has been speaking with state Cultural Affairs Commissioner Van McLeod about arranging conferences and workshops with various writers, musicians, humanists and professional artists.
In addition, she has begun planning a cultural exchange involving New Hampshire artists and artists from Ireland.
She also hopes to conduct an exchange with artists from New Hampshire and Quebec.
Huntington is looking forward to working closely with Grace Paley, the state poet of Vermont and a noted political activist.
"She is someone who has really inspired me and together we could form an interestingly provocative pair," Huntington said.
Huntington will take over the five-year post from current poet laureate Marie Harris. According to Huntington, Harris ran "a very ambitious and successful program."
During her tenure, Harris organized a conference convening virtually every state poet or poet laureate.
The position will allow her to promote local New Hampshire poetry, Huntington said.
"When I travel out of state, it reflects back on New Hampshire," she said.
Huntington said the art of poetry is flourishing in New Hampshire.
"We didn't only have Robert Frost," she said.
"The state recognizes that poetry still has a real place in the arts."
Donald Hall, Huntington's teacher and mentor at the University of Michigan, was the state's first poet laureate. "It is especially meaningful to me that my teacher was the first poet laureate," Huntington said.
Huntington is a member of the New Hampshire Humanities Council. She has been a member of the College's English department for 15 years.
Her most recently published collection of poems is titled "The Radiant." It addresses many of the ongoing struggles in her life, including her battle with multiple sclerosis.
