NEW YORK STATE AUTHOR & STATE POET AWARD CEREMONY 2008

New York State Governor Eliot Spitzer and First Lady Silda Wall Spitzer presented the Edith Wharton Citation of Merit as State Author to fiction writer Mary Gordon, and the Walt Whitman Citation of Merit as State Poet to poet Jean Valentine at a special ceremony held at the Capitol on Monday, March 3rd.

From left: New York State Writers Institute Executive Director William Kenney; Governor Eliot Spitzer; First Lady Silda Wall Spitzer; New York State Author Mary Gordon; New York State Poet Jean Valentine; Lieutenant Governor David A. Paterson; New York State Writers Institute Director Donald Faulkner