Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom The British Poet Laureate is an honorary position appointed by the monarch of the United Kingdom on the advice of the Prime Minister. The role does not entail any specific duties, but there is an expectation that the holder will write verse for significant national occasions. The origins of the laureateship date back to 1616 when a pension was provided to Ben Jonson, but the first official holder of the position was John Dryden, appointed in 1668 by Charles II. On the death of Alfred, Lord Tennyson, who held the post between November 1850
Poet Laureate of New Jersey second poet laureate on August 28, 2002 although his selection was expected at least two months earlier. Baraka, born Everett Leroy Jones, is an African-American poet, playwright, and author of fiction, essays and music criticism. Baraka's poetry and writing has attracted both acclaim and condemnation. Within the African-American community, critics compare him to James Baldwin and call Baraka one of the most respected and most widely published Black writers of his generation. Others have said that his work often ventures into expressions of violence, racism, homophobia, and misogyny—particularly his advocacy of rape, hate, and violence towards women, homosexuals, Caucasians, and