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Former Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky Receives Lifetime Achievement Honor

Former US Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky recites one of his poems as he sits on stage at Fairleigh Dickinson University in May 2010. (AP)
Former US Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky recites one of his poems as he sits on stage at Fairleigh Dickinson University in May 2010. (AP)

Former poet laureate Robert Pinsky will receive a lifetime achievement award from the PEN writers group in California Tuesday night.

Pinsky, a Boston University professor, told BU Today that the $1,000 award is special because of PEN's dual role as a literary and human rights organization. “Its mission includes work for freedom of expression and efforts on behalf of imprisoned or threatened writers around the world," Pinksy said. "That’s a particularly gratifying and, in a way, humbling aspect of this award.”

Pinsky is the author of eight collections of poetry, but he is also well-known as an advocate for poetry, especially for reading poems aloud.

This segment aired on November 8, 2011. The audio for this segment is not available.

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