Ada Limón, U.S. Poet Laureate (San Francisco by Christopher Michel, Cmichel67)
Women and Adversity:
Ada Limón
U.S. Poet Laureate
I thought I would feature Ada Limón, the 24th U.S. Poet Laureate, to highlight National Poetry Day, which this year is October 3.
Poetry is a special kind of writing that activates people’s emotions and stimulates inspiration and motivation. Carla Hayden of the Library of Congress says Limón’s poems “speak of intimate truths, of the beauty and heartbreak that is living, in ways that help us move forward.”
Limón’s title is Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry, a position she began July 12, 2022. Her work is so influential that she was reappointed for a two-year term, which began on April 24, 2023 and will end April 2025. Limón’s signature project is “You Are Here,” which launched during National Poetry Month in April 2024. This involves poems being installed on picnic tables at seven national parks. Five installations have already been made, and Limón traveled to the parks to unveil the installations. She will be at the remaining two:
October 8 – Everglades National Park, Florida, featured poem, “the earth is a living thing,” by Lucille Clifton
December 3 – Saguaro National Park, Arizona, featured poem, “Na:nko Ma:s Cewagĭ / Cloud Song” by Ofelia Zepeda. This poet writes in O’odham, an Indigenous language. The other installations are listed at www.adalimon.net.
Bio:
- Born March 28, 1976 in Sonoma, California of Mexican ancestry.
- Her mother, Stacia Brady, is an artist whose paintings are on the covers of Limón’s books.
- Her father, Ken Limón, is a school administrator.
- Parents divorced and married others.
- 1998 – Bachelor’s degree in drama from University of Washington, Seattle.
- 2001 – Master of Fine Arts degree in poetry from the creative writing program at New York University.
Career:
- In marketing department at Conde Nast for about 12 years
- 2005-10 – published three books of poetry.
- 2011 – moved to Kentucky to be with her future husband, Lucas Marquardt.
- 2014 – began teaching in the creative writing program at Queens University of Charlotte, North Carolina.
- 2015 – published Bright Dead Things, a finalist for the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award.
- 2018 – The Carrying won the National Book Critics Circle Award. It covered themes of infertility, chronic pain and caring for aging parents.
- 2021 – Limón took over as host of The Slowdown, a poetry podcast initiated by Tracy K. Smith during her tenure as the 22nd poet laureate of the United States.
- 2022– The Hurting Kind, which critics described as more experimental.
Personal life
- Spouse – Lucas Marquardt, award-winning journalist for the Thoroughbred Daily News. He started his own company, ThoroStride, in 2011. It makes inspection videos of thoroughbred racehorses going to auction.
- Limón’s health is compromised by scoliosis and bouts of vertigo.
More Information:
www.kentuckymonthly.com/poet-for-the-people
www.topsinlex.com/Read/11909/US+Poet+Laureate+Ada+Lim%C3%B3n#:~:text=She%20fell%20in%20love%20first,that%20live%20in%20Kentucky%20now
www.npr.org/2024/05/23/1244130906/poet-laureate-ada-limon-ghosts-premonitions-forgiving-yourself
