Obama's Inauguration Poet Elizabeth Alexander Has An Issue: She Has To Write A Stirring Poem For This Historical Event!

Elizabeth Alexander will be the fourth poet picked to read at an inauguration.Obama's swearing in will be one of the most viewed & memorable inaugurations in history. The world will be watching, so this will be no small feat. But, isn't this the kind of issue that you wish you had? Everyone is vying for a spot at this inauguration. Beyonce is practically begging for the opportunity to serenade the president,even though Obama really wants Jennifer Hudson to do it.So, congrats to Elizabeth Alexander & all the other lucky participants in Obama's inauguration. Here's Elizabeth Alexander reading some of her poetry in this video. And more on this lovely poet from Poets.org:

"Elizabeth Alexander was born in 1962 in Harlem, New York, and grew up in Washington, D.C. She received a B.A. from Yale University, an M.A. from Boston University (where she studied with Derek Walcott), and a Ph.D. in English from the University of Pennsylvania.

Her collections of poetry include American Sublime (Graywolf Press, 2005), which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize; Antebellum Dream Book (2001); Body of Life (1996); and The Venus Hottentot (1990).

Alexander’s critical work appears in her essay collection, The Black Interior (Graywolf, 2004). She also edited The Essential Gwendolyn Brooks (Graywolf, 2005) and Love’s Instruments: Poems by Melvin Dixon (1995). Her poems, short stories, and critical writing have been widely published in such journals and periodicals as The Paris Review, American Poetry Review, The Kenyon Review, The Southern Review, Prairie Schooner, Callaloo, The Village Voice, The Women's Review of Books, and The Washington Post. Her work has been anthologized in over twenty collections, and in May of 1996, her verse play, Diva Studies, premiered at the Yale School of Drama."(END OF EXCERPT)Read the rest here:http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/245