Kevin Stein, a professor at Bradley University in Peoria, becomes the new Illinois Poet Laureate today, succeeding Gwendolyn Brooks who died in 2000. Stein will serve a four-year term, and is required to perform four public readings each year. He most recently edited a book, "Illinois Voices," an anthology of 20th century poetry from the Lincoln state. (Those who wish to depose him in 2007, take note: the position is unpaid.)