The 24th poet laureate of the United States is Ada Limón.

Ada Limón, the upcoming poet laureate of the nation, has always viewed her writing as a sort of public art.

‘I grew up with poetry being in the community,’ says Limón, a native of Sonoma, California. ‘It wasn’t supposed to just be something read on page; it was supposed be read out loud. I remember going to poetry readings at the bookstore where I worked when I was 16. It’s the oral tradition. That part of poetry has always remained true to me.’

The 46-year-old Limón, formally known as the Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry, was named the 24th U.S. poet laureate on Tuesday, according to a statement from the Library of Congress. The traditional reading at the Library’s Coolidge Auditorium, one of the laureate’s few official duties, kicks off her one-year term on September 29. Awarded poet Limón, who succeeds Joy Harjo, has an extremely high level of popularity; her critically acclaimed book ‘Bright Dead Things’ has sold more than 40,000 copies. She has six poetry collections out, most notably ‘The Hurting Kind,’ and she also hosts the ‘The Slowdown’ podcast.

‘Ada Limo?n is a poet who connects’ Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden said in a statement. ‘Her accessible, engaging poems ground us in where we are and who we share our world with. They speak of intimate truths, of the beauty and heartbreak that is living, in ways that help us move forward.’

Rita Dove, Louise Glück, and W.S. Merwin were among the other laureates when the position was founded in 1985. The $35,000 stipend and $5,000 for travel expenses that laureates receive come from a private contribution given decades ago by the philanthropist Archer M. Huntington, not from the government.

Although the position is situated in Washington, D.C., the poets are not needed to reside there; Limón will work primarily from her home in Lexington, Kentucky, and they are normally free to tailor the role to suit their interests. The ‘The Slowdown’ podcast was an initiative Tracy K. Smith started while she was the laureate from 2017 to 2019.

Limón is known in part for her poems about nature and hopes to give readings at parks and other settings that emphasize and celebrate our place in the world.

‘Poetry is a way of to remember our relationship with the natural world is reciprocal,’ she says. ‘It’s having a place to breathe and having a place to pay attention.’