New Mexico has chosen as its first poet laureate a bilingual Spanish-English writer and Chicano studies professor who will create a podcast of his encounters with wordsmiths and performers. Levi Romero read Friday to the state Senate for his first day on the job. The native of the Embudo Valley in northern New Mexico has won a long list of regional awards for publication of his free-verse poetry. The three-year poet laureate post comes with a annual stipend of $25,000 and additional funds for travel and printing. The job is linked to newly commissioned poetry center at the State Library, based in Santa Fe.
New Mexico taps Chicano studies professor as poet laureate
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