In the following essay and interview with the poet, Suarez discusses the position of Poet Laureate and Pinsky's "Favorite Poem Project."

In his second term as poet laureate of the United States, Robert Pinsky expanded "The Favorite Poem Project," which he had started the previous year. Pinsky first thought the project would include 100 people, some of them well known but most of them coming from a cross section of the American public. Individuals would be audio- and videotaped reading their favorite poems, with the project becoming part of the bicentennial celebration of the Library of Congress. The program has ballooned into Pinsky's major undertaking as laureate. Pinsky now plans to choose 1,200 people to read their favorite poems on audio- and videotape. The two hundred video recordings are to represent the nation's bicentennial in the year 2000, and the one thousand audio tapes are to commemorate the millennium. Pinsky...