W.S. Merwin is the new poet laureate--and, no, that doesn't make me want to read his work.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/07/01/entertainment/main6636396.shtml

Quote from literary gasbag/former NEA head Dana Gioia in THE WASHINGTON POST article about the Merwin announcement: "There is something monklike about Merwin," Gioia said. "He is trying to achieve a contemplative distance from desire and ambition."

Don't have the quote at hand, but I remember reading of Merwin metaphorically holding his nose at the mention of Allen Ginsberg--who wasn't "mature" enough for the Great Man.

All this makes me wish that Kay Ryan had been given another term as Poet Laureate.