Gibson will amplify poetry and creative expression across the commonwealth
On Friday, May 30, a new chapter was added to Massachusetts’ rich literary history. Regie O’Hare Gibson was named the very first poet laureate of Massachusetts at the Mass Poetry Festival in Salem.
“Regie Gibson is a talented poet with a proven commitment to community engagement and a deep appreciation for the history, beauty and resilience of our state and our people. He sees his poetry as a means of bringing people together, finding common ground and building stronger communities,” said Governor Maura Healey. “We congratulate him on his many accomplishments and for being named Massachusetts’ first-ever Poet Laureate, and we extend our deep thanks to Michael Bobbitt, the Mass Cultural Council and the advisory Poet Laureate Nominating Committee for their work to make this special new tradition possible.”
“Poets allow us to dream and inspire us to reckon with our past, interpret the present, and imagine new futures,” said Brian Boyles, executive director of Mass Humanities. “In a state blessed with diverse and vibrant literary traditions that continue to shape the world, we applaud Governor Healey for selecting Regie Gibson, whose craft and care for the poetry community are truly unique, as our first poet laureate. Our board and staff thank Gov. Healey and our partners at Mass Cultural Council for the collaboration and effort that led to this milestone, and we are grateful to the many outstanding poets who offered their talents for this role.”
Please join us in congratulating Gibson on this honor. You can read more on Mass Cultural Council’s website using the button below.
“Regie Gibson, the first poet laureate of Massachusetts, says his job is “starting poetry fires all over the place…the kind we hope you can’t put out.” He’s drawing particular inspiration from Henry David Thoreau’s Walden, which he first read as a teenager, reflecting on what it means today to step away from societal responsibilities.
“For me, poetry is about civic engagement. I think that a poet laureate’s responsibility is to engage civically with people, and to call us back to, as Lincoln would say, the better angels of our nature,” Gibson said, quoting from President Abraham Lincoln’s first inaugural address.”