5 hours ago Dutchess County announced on Thursday (April 1) that Lucia Cherciu has been named as its 2021 poet laureate. Cherciu, a native of Romania who lives in Poughkeepsie, came to the U.S. in 1995. She holds a doctorate in English from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and has been a professor at SUNY/Dutchess Community College for 20 years. She is also the author of five collections of poetry, including, most recently, Train Ride to Bucharest. Lucia Cherciu (Photo provided) “Poetry can serve as a form of prayer, of healing, and of reaching out to others in difficult times such as the pandemic,” Cherciu said. “Poetry can bring us optimism and hope; it can teach us to be kind and honest.”