Robert Pinsky February 23, 2011

Robert Pinsky served as Poet Laureate of the United States for an unprecedented three terms from 1997 to 2000. He is the author of six books of poetry: 'Jersey Rain,' 'The Figured Wheel,' 'The Want Bone,' 'History of My Heart,' 'An Explanation of America' and 'Sadness and Happiness.' His renowned poems seem to distill their complex subjects by centrifugal force, separating history, culture and personal experience into evocative images and powerful turns of phrase.