The Queen of Queens

Remember last month, when Ishle Yi Park told Robert Worth of the NYT, "For me, Queens is like a little suburban nightmare"? Apparently, she got over it in time to accept a position as the borough's poet laureate. Now, she declares, "There's a richness of culture in Queens that people don't know about. I want to do something about that."

Not wishing to mar her appointment, Worth merely notes that "she had not initially aspired to be her native borough's poet laureate... but a sudden flood of press attention to the little-known post expanded the field, and Ms. Park was ultimately chosen from a pool of 78 applicants that included people of all ages and one platinum-selling rapper." Which sort of makes us wonder: How did the woman who recoiled at the thought of being identified with the borough at all become a candidate in this expanded field, anyway?

Chester Higgins Jr./NYT