Boston Educator Named Poet Laureate

“The passion to make new beginnings can shatter/The highest solitude, or living rock,” Robert Pinsky wrote in his long poem “An Explanation of America.” Sometimes, it even brings a man to Washington. Librarian of Congress James Billington announced that he had selected Pinsky as the country’s ninth poet laureate, a one-year position that brings $35,000, increased sales, a few small responsibilities, an office in the library’s attic and a prominent soapbox. Pinsky, 56, is a teacher at Boston University and the author of five books of poetry.