Author of 2 Self-Published Books Resigns as North Carolina's Poet Laureate

Old Mountain Press

A self-published poet laureate? North Carolina pick draws controversy.   (Christian Science Monitor, 7/15/2014)

A "rookie" mistake.     “Valerie Macon is a beginner in her poetry career,” Richard Krawiec, a poet and publisher from Durham, North Carolina said, according to newsobserver.com. “Laureate is for people with national and statewide reputations. If you don’t honor that basic criteria of literary excellence and laureates being poets at the top of their game, than what’s the purpose of the laureate position?”

Pushcart Prize nomination?  Really?  No.  But that can’t be quite right: Only individual poems or stories placed in small-press outfits are eligible for the Pushcart Prize.  (People in North Carolina Are Really Upset About Their New Poet Laureate,  Slate, 7/18/2014)

As for Amazon availabiility.