Though the official induction won't happen for a few days, it was a passing of the torch moment in the Capitol Rotunda. The state's outgoing poet laureate, author Silas House, reflected on what his tenure in the top literary post has meant to him ahead of the announcement of his successor.
"It has been such an honor to serve as poet laureate for the Commonwealth of Kentucky for the past two years," he said. "In that time, this work has made my love for the state only deepen."
House, who has produced podcasts for WUKY, will be handing over the reins to Oldham County poet Kathleen Driskell.
While her work has centered around just about a square mile of space around her home outside of Louisville, Driskell said she sees the commonwealth as brimming with talent.
"In communities small and large, cities small and large, writers and readers are working every day to support and amplify what it means to be a Kentuckian in all our shapes and colors," she said. "The world of Kentucky letters is as varied as our state's landscapes and beautifully diverse Kentuckians who populate those hills, hollers, glades, plateaus, and prairie."
Driskell went on to say her own writing journey has been one aided at each step by fellow authors and teachers.
"I want to pay that forward and bring all those teachers with me in spirit during my poet laureateship," she said.
Poet laureates are chosen by the governor and serve two year terms.
Driscoll will be inducted on April 24, Kentucky Writers' Day.
To hear the incoming and outgoing poets laureate, check out this podcast conversation at WUKY.org.