Poet Laureate of Virginia: July 2006 - June 2008

Click Poet's Spotlight Archive to read the work of contemporary Virginia poets showcased during Carolyn's term as Virginia's Poet Laureate.

Celebrate Poetry Month 12 months of the year at PoetryArchive.org. Enjoy great Poets of the past reading from their work.

Carolyn being administered the oath of office by Katherine Hanley, Secretary of the Commonwealth, July 2006

RICHMOND, June 26, 2006

Governor Timothy M. Kaine today named a Poet Laureate.

Carolyn Kreiter-Foronda of Middlesex County will serve as Poet Laureate of Virginia, an honorary position created to encourage the exchange of arts information and perspectives.

Kreiter-Foronda is a poet, painter, sculptor, and lifelong educator. Her publications include four books of verse, articles on writing, and book chapters on poetry and thinking skills.

Her poetry honors include three Pushcart Prize nominations, an Edgar Allan Poe first place award, and three Artist-in-Education grants and one Arts-on-the-Road grant from the Virginia Commission for the Arts.

In 1992, she was named a Virginia Cultural Laureate for her contributions in the field of American Literature.

LiveWire Press Podcast

Take This on Authority

When the last cloud leaves
nothing behind—no
history, no trace of error, no
basilica to shelter a man—
a hymn, as lonely as any,
will rise out of canyons
and at great heights
sing to every particle, to
every hint of light along the way.
In a temple, in another
universe, listeners will
bow down chanting.
 

By Tulum’s Sea 

How easy to become a part
of this fertile past: a sudden
desert of ruins beneath a vast,
amazed sky, gulls billowing
their small white sails, caught
in an impetuous breeze. To be
here on the edge of it all
between the Castle and Temple
of Wind, in a cliff-break where
a cove’s waters wash over
my feet, the Mayan blue, misted
with the aura of coastlands.
I call out from these ruins as if
expecting honey, vanilla, feather
and jaguar skins from the trade
of a passing ship to float ashore.
The clouds’ wealth opens up,
each drop cleansing the sea:
all at once a translucent wine.
What is it about the sea
that startles the heart?

copyright Carolyn Kreiter-Foronda

The Poet: reading her work at the American Embassy in Sofia, Bulgaria

The Artist: showing her Paintings

The Educator: teaching a Poetry Seminar at Virginia Beach

“I love teaching. I feel very fortunate to be able to work with others and talk about the things I love. I see this appointment [Poet Laureate] as an invaluable opportunity to promote poetry on a large scale.”

-- Carolyn Kreiter-Foronda, Quoted in The Mason Gazette, June 30, 2006

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