A Poet’s Poet

America’s new poet laureate is not exactly what you might expect of a writer in such a prominent position. “At age 77, living what has been a well-filled but private literary life, Donald Hall is a bit shocked at the intense national media attention to his appointment.” Hall has been publishing poems for over forty years, and in the often-snarky world of American literature, he stands out as a writer about whom no one seems to have a negative word to say.