Apr 25, 2023 - World

Ada Limón says 2nd term as poet laureate is "where imagination meets reality"

Marina E. Franco (Noticias Telemundo for Axios)

U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón smiles at the camera as she's surrounded by many people, none of whom are looking at the camera — U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón (center) attends a reception to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month at the White House on September 30, 2022. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Ada Limón will write a poem for space and collaborate with the National Park Service as she embarks on her historic second term as U.S. poet laureate, she told Axios Latino.

Driving the news: Limón was appointed last year for a one-year term and on Monday made history when she became the first U.S. poet laureate appointed to serve a two-year second term. She will now keep the title through 2025.

Limón was asked to remain on because of her work to "broaden and promote poetry to reach new audiences," Carla Hayden, the librarian of Congress, said in a statement.

What to know: Limón said in an interview last year with Axios Latino that her main goal would be to make poetry more accessible.

She's been developing programs with other government agencies that Hayden said would be best served by having more time to carry them out.
For example, Limón is writing a new poem that NASA says will be engraved on its Europa Clipper spacecraft, which is expected to launch next year and eventually do several flybys of Jupiter’s icy moon Europa.
Limón is also leading an initiative to feature poems in national parks this fall.

What she's saying: "The first term was all about figuring out who I was in this public role and what it is I wanted to accomplish. The second term is exciting because it's where the imagination meets reality," Limón told Axios Latino.

She said the collaborations with NASA and the National Park Service create a chance to recognize how poetry and the natural world are interwoven.
"They both give us a chance to experience wonder, awe, and mystery," she added.

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Ada Limón says 2nd term as poet laureate is "where imagination meets reality"

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