Great Regulars: [Toi Derricotte] believes that [Elizabeth] Alexander "is the right

kind of poet for Barack Obama. She's very clear and intellectual in her poems, not abstract, but she makes you think about complex subjects." Derricotte added:

"Reading one of her poems is a lot like reading the newspaper. They have that sense of immediacy about them."

Reached later, Michael S. Harper, one of the nation's most esteemed poets and teachers and a 2005 Pulitzer judge, said he had put a lot of Alexander's work into anthologies he has edited and added, "She's splendid."

from Bob Hoover: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Obama's inaugural poet called 'splendid'

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