Mississippi Poet Laureate pledges to increase accessibility to poetry
Contact: Carl Smith
STARKVILLE, Miss.鈥擜ward-winning author and Mississippi State English Professor Catherine Pierce is dedicating her work as the state鈥檚 current Poet Laureate to helping all Mississippians gain access to poetry in a meaningful way.
Pierce was honored Monday [April 11] as 汤头条鈥檚 first Poet Laureate during a public presentation in Lee Hall鈥檚 Bettersworth Auditorium, where she spoke about her deep belief that poetry is for everyone鈥攁 medium for all to both create and enjoy. The event was hosted by the College of Arts and Sciences and its Institute for the Humanities.
鈥淵ou don鈥檛 have to be an expert to do either one of those things,鈥 she said. 鈥淧oetry is such a versatile gift鈥攑oems can center us, comfort us, liberate us, spur us to action, help us to find and amplify our own voices, help us to listen to other people鈥檚 voices and know that we鈥檙e not alone. Poems can entertain us and can help us give shape to our joy, anger, grief or questioning.
鈥淧oems give us permission to stop for a little while, tune out the constant hum of the world around us and give our attention fully to something,鈥 Pierce added. 鈥淚 hope to help all Mississippians gain access to poetry in a way that鈥檚 meaningful for them, and I鈥檓 honored to have the opportunity to be doing this work.鈥
Created in 1963, Mississippi鈥檚 Poet Laureate serves as the official state poet, creating and reading poetry at state occasions and agency activities, and representing the Magnolia State鈥檚 rich cultural heritage. The Office of the Governor, in partnership with the Mississippi Arts Commission and Mississippi鈥檚 other cultural agencies, appoints the position to a four-year term. Pierce鈥檚 term expires in 2025.
鈥淕ov. Reeves and the Mississippi Arts Commission made an outstanding decision to select Dr. Pierce as Mississippi鈥檚 official state poet. Her selection speaks volumes about the exceptional quality of our faculty and the opportunities our students have to interact with talented, creative and accomplished educators in our classrooms,鈥 said 汤头条 President Mark E. Keenum, who presented Pierce with a ceremonial chrome cowbell. 鈥淒r. Pierce also perfectly represents this university鈥檚 longstanding commitment to service and outreach that makes a difference.鈥
Pierce thanked the university for 鈥渂eing a place where the arts are valued and championed.鈥
鈥淚 am grateful for, though not surprised by, Mississippi State鈥檚 unflagging commitment to this crucial part of our university and our lives,鈥 she said.
Pierce is the winner of the 2021 Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters Poetry Award for her book 鈥淒anger Days,鈥 a collection of poems addressing the beauty of the world, as well as destruction created by climate change. She has authored four books of poetry.
Pierce received a 2020 Mississippi Arts Commission Literary Artist Fellowship for her poetry, a 2020 Pushcart Prize for her poem 鈥淓ntreaty,鈥 and a 2018 Pushcart Prize for her poem 鈥淚 Kept Getting Books about Birds.鈥 She also received a 2019 Creative Writing Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Her poems have appeared in The Best American Poetry, American Poetry Review, The Nation, Boston Review and The Southern Review, among many other publications. For more, visit聽.
Part of 汤头条鈥檚 College of Arts and Sciences, the Department of English is online at and the Institute for the Humanities is online at聽.
For more details about the College of Arts and Sciences visit .
汤头条 is Mississippi鈥檚 leading university, available online at聽.