People

By Rebecca Winters Keegan

MEET AMERICA'S NEXT TOP POET

You make $35,000 a year to get kids psyched about sonnets. No, you're not a middle school English teacher; you're the poet laureate. The Library of Congress has named New Hampshire writer Donald Hall the U.S.'s new poet in chief. Hall has published 18 books of poetry--including a 1988 collection called The One Day that took 17 years to write, and two books about his late wife, poet Jane Kenyon. A "grateful" and "frantic" Hall says he would like to start a poetry channel on satellite radio or get poetry some airtime on cable TV. Can versifying reality stars be far behind?

WHEN MARY MET JOSEPH--THE ROAD TRIP

In her movie Thirteen, director Catherine Hardwicke took a less-than-romantic look at the antics of adolescent girls. Now she's taking on another teen with a big secret in The Nativity Story. The film, which could also be called The Passion of the Christ: The Prequel, follows young Mary's life in Nazareth and her journey to Bethlehem with Joseph (OSCAR ISAAC). Taking the part of Mary--the key role, as any Christmas-pageant organizer can attest--is Keisha Castle-Hughes, 16, the New Zealander who swam to an Oscar nomination in 2002's Whale Rider. She has been "fearless, dazzling, an almost ageless spirit," says Hardwicke. Castle-Hughes gamely learned to milk goats, which, to the dismay of little kids everywhere, are played by real animals.

CAUSE CELEBS

Activist stars like DARYL HANNAH, who spent three weeks in a walnut tree to support a Los Angeles farmers' garden, are getting creative in their protests:

After a Cristal exec said he views the high-end champagne's popularity with hip-hop stars as a "curiosity," JAY-Z felt dissed and decided to boycott, neither drinking it nor serving it at his chain of lounges.

Bono wants us to speak for AIDS causes--and not just on nights and weekends. The ueber-activist is pitching a Motorola RED phone, with $10 of the purchase price and 5% of monthly charges going to AIDS charities.

Angelina Jolie will celebrate World Refugee Day on CNN this week with her first U.S. TV interview since the birth of her baby with Brad Pitt. To peek at the hot mama, viewers must learn about Sierra Leone.