Barack Obama was recently spotted carrying a book by Nobel Laureate Derek Walcott. Walcott, a West Indian poet, is quoted in yesterday’s Washington Post and has written an Obama poem (listen to Walcott here).

That our new President-Elect reads is a great source of encouragement to many (especially booksellers), as is his recent selection of Elizabeth Alexander as the Inaugural Poet. As you have no doubt read, Elizabeth is a DC native and Yale professor who grew up amidst our area’s vibrant poetry scene. The poem published by the Post, includes a hat-tip to this tradition with its reference to Sterling Brown, a seminal figure for Washington area poets. (more…)