California’s newest poet laureate is native Californian Dana Gioia.  

Gioia is a professor of poetry and public culture at the University of Southern California and the former chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts.  

Gioia’s list of accomplishments span from winning the 2002 American Book Award for his collection Interrogations at Noon to helping compile the anthology California Poetry: From the Gold Rush to the Present.

During  his time with the NEA he created the Poetry Out Loud recitation contest for high school students and launched a writing project with returning veterans to document their wartime experiences. Gioia succeeds Juan Felipe Herrera, who is now the U.S. poet laureate.

Guest:

Dana Gioia, California’s Poet Laureate and Professor of Poetry and Public Culture, USC