North Carolina's new poet laureate, Shelby Stephenson, will be installed Monday, February 2, 2015.
His appointment comes nearly six months after the previous poet laureate, Valerie Macon, resigned amid controversy over her unconventional selection. Stephenson is a retired English professor, magazine editor and current member of the North Carolina Literary Hall of Fame.
Host Frank Stasio talks with Stephenson about his life growing up on a tobacco farm near Benson, NC, his musical idol, Hank Williams, and his plans to help nursing home residents express themselves through poetry.
Stephenson is one of many North Carolina Poet Laureates to be on The State of Things. To listen to past interviews with Joseph Bathanti and Kay Byer follow the links!
