Andrew Motion appointed new chair of the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council

Culture Secretary Andy Burnham today announced that Andrew Motion has been appointed as the new Chair of the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA).

Professor Motion will take up his new position for a period of four years.

Andy Burnham said: "I am thrilled that Andrew has agreed to take up this position of Chair of the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council. Mark Wood has done an outstanding job in steering the organisation through what's been some of the most challenging times for them, and is to be congratulated on his achievement in doing that so successfully.

"He is passing Andrew the reins of a strong, focussed organisation. Andrew's own challenge will be to help the MLA continue their excellent work through the changes and help the organisation grow into its new structure.

"He has an obvious passion for the Arts, and has been a most distinguished and successful Poet Laureate since 1999.

"I know he has some wonderful and exciting ideas about how he can take the MLA forward, continuing their pursuit of excellence and, in particular, promoting the culture sector to Olympic spectators and visitors in 2012. I wish him well in his new position, and look forward to seeing the fruition of his inspiring ideas."

Andrew Motion said: "I am greatly looking forward to helping the MLA continue their tremendous work in all areas of museums, libraries and galleries. It is an exciting time to be entering the heart of the cultural arena, with the enormous boost in popularity that museums and galleries have seen over the past few years, and the Olympics just around the corner.

"I am confident the MLA can build on this and achieve even greater things in the future."

MLA's Chief Executive, Roy Clare, said: "Andrew arrives at a very appropriate and exciting time as a newly reshaped MLA equips itself to focus on the integration, improvement, and innovation of museums, libraries and archives.

"A refreshed team is beginning to fit into place and will join me in looking forward to the opportunity of working with Andrew and the Board as we aim for our sector to make an ever increasing impact for the public."

Andrew Motion has been Poet Laureate for the past 9 years. He was previously a Member of Arts Council England and Chair of the ACE Literature Panel, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Born in London and educated at Oxford University, Motion became a lecturer at Hull University (1976-1981), publishing his first collection of poetry in 1977.

Since then, he has published several other volumes of poetry and biography, for which he has received the Somerset Maugham Award, the Dylan Thomas Prize and the Whitbread Prize for Biography.

He was Professor of Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia from 1995-2003, when he was appointed Professor of Creative Writing at Royal Holloway College, University of London.

He is a member of the Council of the ASA and a co-founder and co-director of the Poetry Archive, an online collection of historic and contemporary poets reading their own work.