Mary Karr, an award-winning poet, will speak at Syracuse University’s commencement ceremony on May 10, the university announced Friday morning.

Karr, 60, will deliver her address at the joint ceremony for SU and SUNY-ESF, and will receive an honorary degree, a doctor of humane letters, according to an SU News release. Karr is also a professor of English in the College of Arts and Sciences where she teaches in the Creative Writing Program. She was formerly a poetry columnist for the Washington Post and is the author of best-selling memoirs “The Liars’ Club” and “Cherry,” as well as best-seller “Lit,” the sequel to those two memoirs.

“It’s truly humbling to be asked to speak for our students and their families on such a festive occasion,” Karr said in the release. “This will be a wonderful highlight to my nearly 25 years at SU and I hope to impart something fresh and meaningful to the Class of 2015.”

In the release, Chancellor Kent Syverud said it’s rare for someone to achieve what Karr has achieved in so many genres. He added that it’s fitting that students will hear from someone with such a creative range as they prepare to graduate.

The 161st commencement ceremony will take place May 10 in the Carrier Dome. Past speakers include David Remnick, editor of the New Yorker, Nicholas Kristof, a columnist for The New York Times, and Aaron Sorkin, an award-winning television and film writer and SU alumnus. This year’s speaker announcement comes in mid-April, the latest date a commencement speaker has been shared with the public in the past few years.