Arthur Sze was a freshman at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, taking notes during a calculus lecture, when he suddenly stopped listening.

He flipped to the back of his notebook and wrote down a couple of phrases. That night, in his dorm room, those scribbles became his first poem.

The following year, he left M.I.T., transferring to Berkeley and telling his parents he wanted to become a poet. They were not pleased.

His bet on himself, however, has paid off. The Library of Congress announced on Monday that Sze, 74, will be the next poet laureate of the United States.

Sze is an observational poet, whose work is grounded in nature and imagery. He said he first learned his craft by translating ancient Chinese poems. Over time, his poems grew longer, often made up of numbered sequences that changed perspective and tone from one section to another. His newer poems look simpler, but hopefully, he said, they are deeper.

“When you read a poem, you don’t need to feel like you get it all at once,” Sze said. “The best poems communicate through sound and rhythm and musicality. And as you read and reread, the poem emerges.”