Gioia is an internationally acclaimed poet, and critic whose poetry volumes include Interrogations at Noon, which won the  2002 American Book Award, and whose work Can Poetry Matter? was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle award, and is credited with helping revive the role of poetry in American culture. As Chairman of the NEA, Gioia strengthened national support for the arts and launched The Big Read, the largest literary program in American history, to promote understanding and appreciation of literature. Gioia has just been appointed the Judge Widney Chair of Poetry and Public Culture at the University of California and is the author of the introduction to theTrinity Forum Reading Sacred and Profane Love: The Poetry of John Donne.