New poet laureate named

New Hampshire poet Donald Hall has been named the United States' new poet laureate, following in the footsteps of Robert Pinsky and Anthony Hecht.

The poet laureate works for the Library of Congress, but the library tries to keep the laureate's duties to a minimum so they may work on their own projects.

"Donald Hall is one of America's most distinctive and respected literary figures," Librarian of Congress James Billington said in an announcement prepared for delivery Wednesday. "For more than 50 years, he has written beautiful poetry on a wide variety of subjects that are often distinctly American and conveyed with passion."

Hall told The Associated Press he hopes to persuade satellite radio to create a poetry only channel or have a poetry program on cable television.

"I think most of the things I think about are unrealistic because they would take a great wad of cash to get started," he told the AP.