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 Natasha Trethewey served two terms as the nineteenth Poet Laureate of the United States (2012-2014) and a term as Poet Laureate of the state of Mississippi in 2012. She is the author of four collections of poetry: Domestic Work, Bellocq's Ophelia, Native Guard, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 2007, and Thrall. A fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, she has also received fellowships from the Academy of American Poets, the Guggenheim Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Librarian of Congress James Billington says Natasha Trethewey "consistently and dramatically expanded the power" of the role of US Poet Laureate, holding office hours with the public, traveling the country, and reaching millions through her innovative PBS NewsHour segment "Where Poetry Lives." Marilyn Nelson says "the wide scope of Trethewey's interests and her adept handling of form have created an opus of classics both elegant and necessary." With her selections and introductory essay for The Best American Poetry 2017, Trethewey highlights even more "elegant and necessary" poems and poets, adding to the national conversation of verse and its role in our culture.
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