Tale of the Muse
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W. S. Merwin

Special Bicentennial Consultant; U.S. Poet Laureate · 1999-2000; 2010-2011 · as printed by the Library of Congress

Our reading written by Tale of the Muse

W. S. Merwin, born in New York City in 1927, was a Special Bicentennial Consultant in 1999 and 2000 and Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry from 2010 to 2011. The Library lists a Pulitzer Prize for The Carrier of Ladders (1971), a second Pulitzer Prize in 2009 for The Shadow of Sirius, and a National Book Award for Migration (2005). He lived in Hawaii until his death in 2019.

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Appointment and term

Special Bicentennial Consultant, 1999-2000
Consultants and Poets Laureate (Library of Congress, JSON API) · Library of Congress · our check found this text on October 31, 2026
U.S. Poet Laureate, 2010-2011
Consultants and Poets Laureate (Library of Congress, JSON API) · Library of Congress · our check found this text on October 31, 2026
Merwin served as a special Bicentennial Consultant for the Library of Congress from 1999-2000, and as Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry from 2010-2011.
W. S. Merwin biography (Library of Congress, JSON API) · Library of Congress · our check found this text on October 31, 2026

Life

Merwin was born in New York City in 1927.
Consultants and Poets Laureate (Library of Congress, JSON API) · Library of Congress · our check found this text on October 31, 2026
He lived in Hawaii until his death in 2019.
W. S. Merwin biography (Library of Congress, JSON API) · Library of Congress · our check found this text on October 31, 2026

Books and honors

The Carrier of Ladders (1971), winner of the Pulitzer Prize
W. S. Merwin biography (Library of Congress, JSON API) · Library of Congress · our check found this text on October 31, 2026
Migration: New and Selected Poems (2005), winner of the National Book Award
W. S. Merwin biography (Library of Congress, JSON API) · Library of Congress · our check found this text on October 31, 2026
His other honors include a second Pulitzer Prize (for The Shadow of Sirius in 2009), the Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize, and the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize.
W. S. Merwin biography (Library of Congress, JSON API) · Library of Congress · our check found this text on October 31, 2026

Source

All quotes on this page come from the Library of Congress through its JSON API. All poets laureate →