Airea Matthews. Photo courtesy of Ryan Collerd/The Free Library of Philadelphia
Philadelphia has a new ambassador of verse.
What's happening: Airea Matthews was named the city's poet laureate on Tuesday, a post she will hold for the next two years.
- Trapeta Mayson is the outgoing poet laureate.
Details: Matthews directs the poetry program at Bryn Mawr College, where she serves as an assistant professor.
- She has won several awards, including for her first collection of poems in "Simulacra."
What she's saying: "At some point in many of our lives, poetry has touched us at exactly the moment when we needed comfort, inspiration, camaraderie, or support," Matthews said in a released statement.
- "During my term I aim to publicly increase these serendipitous engagements with art and language," she added.
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