Richard Blanco will be first openly gay, Latino poet to read at Obama’s inauguration

Wed, 09 Jan 2013 14:12:00 +0000

Spanish-born Richard Blanco, 44, has been lifted from the relatively obscure realm of poetry to the world stage today, as the Presidential Inaugural Committee has announced that the poet will read at President Obama's 2013 inauguration on Jan. 21. Blanco is the fifth poet to hold the honor since Robert Frost read at the ceremony ushering in President John F. Kennedy in 1961. He will also be the youngest poet, as well as the first Latino and openly gay poet, to read at the ceremony.

The inaugural committee’s spokeswoman Addie Whisenant told the New York Times that Obama selected Blanco because the poet’s “deeply personal poems are rooted in the idea of what it means to be an American.” Blanco similarly expressed a kinship with the President, saying that the two see America in similar ways. Talking to the Times via phone, Blanco said,“Since the beginning of the campaign, I totally related to his life story and the way he speaks of his family, and of course his multicultural background," adding, “There has always been a spiritual connection in that sense. I feel in some ways that when I’m writing about my family, I’m writing about him.”

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Richard Blanco will be first openly gay, Latino poet to read at Obama’s inauguration