Margaret Gibson named poet laureate for Connecticut

Preston poet Margaret Gibson, whose subjects include her late husband’s fight against Alzheimer’s, has been appointed Connecticut’s Official State Poet Laureate, the Connecticut Office of the Arts announced Wednesday.

Gibson becomes the state’s seventh poet laureate and succeeds Rennie McQuilkin, who served since 2015. The post is an honorary position, appointed by the Connecticut Office of the Arts, and serves as an advocate for poetry and the literary arts.

Poets laureate serve three-year terms.

“It’s, of course, an honor and I’m very happy about it,” Gibson said by phone Wednesday afternoon. “It’s also a position I appreciate very much, and I feel pleased and delighted to have the opportunity. This is not about me as a poet but about coming up with diverse, interdependent and cooperative programs and projects across the state. I look forward to offering solo and group poetry readings, panels and workshops, and using these to build a more clear and vocal sense of community that is engaged and caring.”