Praise Song For The Day: A Poem for Barack Obama's Presidential Inauguration - Softcover

"Elizabeth Alexander is an inspired choice for this historic role. She is a marvelous poet, an incisive and influential scholar, and one of the great citizens of the literary world. What a joy it will be to see her and hear her at that podium on that day!" --Alice Quinn "Elizabeth Alexander is a superb choice for the Obama Inauguration. She is from Washington, she represents Obama's generation, and she has written about the civil rights conflict and other historical events that have shaped the character of this country . . . At the same time, her intense personal vision reveals the commonplace life illuminated from startling new angles--as good poetry always does." --Tree Swenson, Director of the Academy of American Poets

Drawing inspiration from poets like Walt Whitman, Gwendolyn Brooks and Robert Hayden, Elizabeth Alexander wrote this poem which she read at the inauguration of Barack Obama. She is the fourth poet in US history to read at a presidential inauguration. Critics have praised the poem, calling it beautifully subversive'. This elegant commemorative edition is published in honour of the historic occasion and will serve as a cherished reminder of one of the most closely watched inaugurations in history.'