Ada Limón, a creative writing instructor in the College of Arts & Sciences at Queens University of Charlotte, has been named the 24th Poet Laureate of the United States. She will begin her new role in September.
“What an incredible honor to be named the 24th Poet Laureate of the United States. Again and again, I have been witness to poetry’s immense power to reconnect us to the world, to allow us to heal, to love, to grieve, to remind us of the full spectrum of human emotion,” Limón said. “This recognition belongs to the teachers, poets, librarians and ancestors from all over the world that have been lifting up poetry for years. I am humbled by this opportunity to work in the service of poetry and to amplify poetry’s ability to restore our humanity and our relationship to the world around us.”
Limón has taught in the Queens University of Charlotte master of fine arts program since 2014, both in Charlotte and in Latin America. She is one of the core faculty in the Latin America track. The Queens University of Charlotte Latin America residency was launched in July 2014 as part of a vision of more deeply connecting MFA students to Latinx culture. MFA students may move back and forth between Charlotte and Latin America residencies during their matriculation in the program which rotates among Buenos Aires, Argentina; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and Santiago, Chile for its annual two-week residencies.
LimoÌn was born in Sonoma, California, in 1976 and is of Mexican ancestry. She earned a master of fine arts degree from New York University. LimoÌn is the author of six poetry collections, including The Carrying (Milkweed Editions, 2018), which won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry. Her most recent book, The Hurting Kind (Milkweed Editions, 2022) was published this spring.