UNION CITY AND BEYOND — According to the New York Times, internationally renowned and two-time Pulitzer Prize winning poet W.S. Merwin – who grew up on the corner of Fourth Street and New York Avenue in Union City — was to be announced as the nation’s poet laureate on Thursday by the Library of Congress.
Merwin succeeds Kay Ryan as the nation’s 17th poet laureate.
Over the past six decades, the Union City native has written over 30 books of poetry, translation, and prose.
In 2006, Merwin was immortalized on the streets of Union City when officials dedicated the area of Fourth Street where he once lived “W.S. Merwin Way.” At the dedication he read his poem “Before the Flood,” which mentions his Union City home.
Merwin, 82, now lives in Hawaii on a former pineapple plantation on top of a dormant volcano.
For prior stories in our newspaper about Merwin, see links below.
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