Inaugural Poetry

Elizabeth Alexander has been chosen by President-Elect Barack Obama as only the fourth inaugural poet in American history. The 45-year-old award-winning poet also teaches African American studies at Yale.

Robert Frost was the first Inaugural Poet, chosen by John F. Kennedy in 1961. Bill Clinton followed Kennedy's example, choosing Maya Angelou for the 1993 inauguration, and Miller Williams for his second swearing-in ceremony in 1997.

On a musical side-note, poet Miller Williams is the father of singer-songwriter Lucinda Williams

First Woman to Win Pulitzer

Writer Edith Wharton was the first woman to win a Pulitzer Prize, awarded to her in 1921 for The Age of Innocence. Born to an established New York family in 1862, Wharton's books chronicled the society in which she lived, often mocking the absurdities of trading one's true self for wealth and position. In all Wharton wrote more than 40 volumes, consisting of novels, short stories, poetry and non-fiction. She received the French Legion of Honor for her work during World War I, and an honorary doctorate from Yale in 1923, the first woman to do so.

Wharton's best known works include:

The House of Mirth (1905)
Ethan Frome (1911)
Summer (1917)
The Age of Innocence (1920)
Old New York (1924)

Which of her works have touched you?