Tom Sexton (born 1940) is an

Alaskan Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...

poet and scholar who became the state's

Poet Laureate A poet laureate (plural: poets laureate) is a poet officially appointed by a government or conferring institution, typically expected to compose poems for special events and occasions. Albertino Mussato of Padua and Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch) ...

in 1995Library of Congress

Childhood and education

Sexton grew up in

Lowell, Massachusetts Lowell () is a city in Massachusetts, in the United States. Alongside Cambridge, It is one of two traditional seats of Middlesex County. With an estimated population of 115,554 in 2020, it was the fifth most populous city in Massachusetts as of ...

. After graduating from Lowell High School in 1958, he spent three years in the

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

– two of them stationed in

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

. He then worked odd jobs, before enrolling in

Northern Essex Community College Northern Essex Community College (NECC) is a public community college in Essex County, Massachusetts. The college serves residents of the Merrimack Valley and Southern New Hampshire. It has campuses in Haverhill and Lawrence. The college is par ...

Haverhill, Massachusetts Haverhill ( ) is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. Haverhill is located 35 miles north of Boston on the New Hampshire border and about 17 miles from the Atlantic Ocean. The population was 67,787 at the 2020 United States Cen ...

, where he helped found the college's literary magazine

Parnassus Mount Parnassus (; el, Παρνασσός, ''Parnassós'') is a mountain range of central Greece that is and historically has been especially valuable to the Greek nation and the earlier Greek city-states for many reasons. In peace, it offers ...

, a multi-award winning publication still in print today. He went on to enter

Salem State College Salem State University (Salem State or SSU) is a public university in Salem, Massachusetts. Established in 1854, it is the oldest and largest institute of higher education on the North Shore and is part of the state university system in Massa ...

, graduating in 1968 with a bachelor's degree in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

. He then went to the

University of Alaska The University of Alaska System is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Alaska. It was created in 1917 and comprises three separately accredited universities on 19 campuses. The system serves nearly 30,000 full- and part-time stud ...

, where he earned a

Master of Fine Arts A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.) is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts admini ...

degree and was hired to help establish the English Department at the newly opened Anchorage Campus.

Career

From 1970 to 1994, Sexton taught English and creative writing at the University of Alaska – Anchorage where he established the creative writing program and served as English Department chair for several years. He was a founding editor of the '' Alaska Quarterly Review'', leaving the magazine when he retired in 1994. He was appointed Alaska's Poet Laureate in 1995, having been selected by the Alaska State Council on the Arts (AKSCA) and confirmed by the Alaskan legislature. Sexton is the author of ten books of poetry. His ''A Clock With No Hands'' is a collection of poems about growing up in Lowell. His most recent book is ''For the Sake of the Light,'' which includes "Alaska Spring," a poem that was set to music by American composer

Libby Larsen Elizabeth Brown Larsen (born December 24, 1950) is a contemporary American classical composer. Along with composer Stephen Paulus, she is a co-founder of the Minnesota Composers Forum, now the American Composers Forum. A former holder of the Pa ...

and premiered April 21, 2012 for the 25th anniversary of the Alaska Chamber Singers.Webb, Megan. "Anton Armstrong conducts premiere of Libby Larsen piece with Alaska Chamber Singers." ChoralNet, May 30, 2012. http://www.choralnet.org/318440 (accessed July 25, 2013).

Personal life

Sexton and his wife, Sharyn, spend every other winter in

Eastport, Maine Eastport is a city and archipelago in Washington County, Maine, United States. The population was 1,288 at the 2020 census, making Eastport the least-populous city in Maine. The principal island is Moose Island, which is connected to the mainla ...

Notes

American male poets Living people 1940 births Writers from Lowell, Massachusetts Writers from Anchorage, Alaska University of Alaska Fairbanks alumni Salem State University alumni University of Alaska Anchorage people Poets Laureate of Alaska People from Eastport, Maine Poets from Alaska 20th-century American poets 20th-century American male writers {{US-poet-1940s-stub