Portland -
President Barack Obama has chosen a poet from Maine to give a poetry reading at his inauguration.
Obama announced Wednesday that Richard Blanco is the 2013 inaugural poet at his Jan. 21 swearing-in ceremony. The son of Cuban exiles, the 44-year-old Blanco lives in Bethel, where he serves on the planning board.
In announcing Blanco as his choice, Obama said Blanco's writing will celebrate "the strength of the American people and our nation's great diversity."
Inauguration planners said Blanco will be the youngest-ever inaugural poet and the first Hispanic or gay person to recite a poem at the ceremony.
Blanco will be the fifth poet to read at a presidential inauguration, joining a group that includes Robert Frost and Maya Angelou.
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