Mountain Goats U.S. Poet Laureate? Fans Petition to Get Singer Honored

Posted on Dec 28th 2012 2:00PM by Marwa Hamad
Comments

Scott Gries, Getty

Fans of the folk rock band the Mountain Goats have issued a plea to the U.S. government: name lead singer John Darnielle the United States Poet Laureate. The online petition which refers to Darnielle as "American institution" was posted on December 26 and has 400 signatures so far.

"An inspiration to poets, artists and sundry other human beings both in America and world-wide, Mr. Darnielle is a unique voice in modern word and music," the petition reads.

"For over twenty years, Mr. Darnielle has struggled on our behalf to come to terms with the base instincts of the human psyche. In literature, there is no man more worthy of recognition through the award of U.S. Poet Laureate than John Darnielle."

This wouldn't be the first time a musician holds the laureate title. In the summer of 2009, Canadian rapper Cadence Weapon was sworn in as the city of Edmonton's official Poet Laureate, serving two years as an ambassador of the literary arts.

Darnielle took to Twitter to say he was not behind the petition, but seemed to take it with a grain of salt.

"I did not do this, but if I didn't point it out, they'd fail me in Social Media 201: Petitioning Governments for Lols," the singer wrote, adding, "Do I get powers of clemency if I get this poet laureate gig or are those only for third-level clerics?"

The petition ends with a final plea: "...do it, Mr. President. Do it!" It aims to amass 25,000 signatures by January 25, which would force the U.S. government to take it into consideration.

The current U.S. Poet Laureate position is held by Pulitzer Prize-winning Natasha Trethewey, an English and Creative Writing professor at Emory University.

Watch Mountain Goats' "This Year" Video