Donald Hall has been named Poet Laureate of the United States. He succeeds Ted Kooser, who has held the position since 2004.

It's a great time for anyone wanting to know more about Hall and his work. Never mind the fact that such an announcement is about the only time a single poet receives much in the way of blanket media coverage these days -- National Poetry Month and the occasional anti-war rabble rousing also draw a bit of attention -- but Hall's publisher, Houghton-Mifflin, just released a career-encapsulating collection, White Apples and the Taste of Stone: Poems 1946-2006. Hall talks about and reads from the collection in this New Hampshire Public Radio show.

As for that media coverage, the New York Times has a nice interview with Hall in which he talks about being an outspoken critic of the Bush Administration, saying "If I see First Amendment violations, I will speak up." Kooser, following in the footsteps of predecessors Robert Pinsky and Billy Collins, worked to make poetry more accessible through outreach programs. In his case, it was (and still is, actually) the column "American Life in Poetry," provided free to newspapers. Hall said he might continue the column if Kooser lets it go when he steps down this fall.