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 him poet laureate because I appreciated his art, his intelligence and his creative energy. I’ve always had great personal affect(ion) for him and recognized him as a gifted creative force." On September 20, 2002, Baraka incited a public controversy with a public reading of his poem "Somebody Blew Up America" in front of 2,000 people at the September 2002 Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival held in Stanhope, New Jersey. He was briefly booed by the audience. This poem, written in October 2001, was read at the festival—held one year after the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center—and was