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
Martha's Vineyard Poet Laureate breakfast of same name. During her active life as a poet and writer, Dionis Coffin Riggs was sometimes referred to the island's poet laureate. Dionis would flinch at this, stating that Poet Laureate is not a lighthearted sobriquet. In honor of her mother's memory, Cynthia Riggs undertook the task of creating the position of West Tisbury Poet Laureate. About ten years after Dionis' death, in spring of 2006, Cynthia Riggs petitioned the town of West Tisbury to put an article on the Annual Town Meeting warrant to establish the position of West Tisbury Poet Laureate. The position of West Tisbury