PRINTPoetry for the people ... of Missouri
The search is on for the state’s first poet laureate
November 15, 2007 | 12:00 a.m. CST
The Show-Me State is ready to show off its artistic talent and is in need of the perfect poet to help.
On Oct. 12, Gov. Matt Blunt announced that his office is accepting nominations for an official poet laureate to serve in Missouri. According to Gov. Blunt’s press secretary, Jessica Robinson, he is thrilled to be the first Missouri governor to enact this program. The poet laureate will promote the arts by traveling to schools and libraries across the state.
Joplin
Langston Hughes
This prolific poet was born in Joplin on Feb. 1, 1902 and wrote during the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s.
Highlandville
Jennifer DiCamillo
A motivational speaker, playwright, author, wife and mother of five, Jennifer DiCamillo also finds time to write award-winning poetry including her untitled haiku, which won a first place Poets and Friends end-of-year award in 2004.
Warrensburg
Kevin D. Prufer
Prufer has written three books of poetry: the award-winning Strange Wood, The Finger Bone and Fallen From a Chariot. He currently teaches English at the University of Central Missouri.
Columbia
Sherod Santos
Columbia’s own Sherod Santos is a professor of English at MU. His five books of poetry and the many awards they earned are a testament to his talent. His books include The Pershing, The Pilot and Star Elegies.
St. Louis
T. S. Eliot
This Missouri native lived the first 18 years of his life in St. Louis before becoming an influential poet and winning the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Maya Angelou
The poet, author and civil rights activist was born in St. Louis on April 4, 1928.
“We’re finally taking our ranks among those who recognize the value of the literary arts in an official way,” says Mark Tiedemann, president of the Missouri Center for the Book.
The poet laureate will encourage support for Missouri arts by spreading the word about the artistic and literary contributions Missourians have to offer. He or she will be a cheerleader of sorts and will draw more attention to the arts community so it gets the recognition it deserves.
The person who is awarded this prestigious position must be dedicated to both Missouri and the art of poetry — he or she will be working for two years, sans salary.
Picking a poet
Interested in becoming the first poet laureate of Missouri? Well, get to it, because the deadline is Dec. 1, and more than 60 nominations from St. Louis to Kansas City have already been submitted by friends of poets as well as the creative minds themselves. Laureate wannabes must currently reside in Missouri and submit some of their best poetry and background information. Interested parties may send nominations to
poet.laureate@mo.gov.
Two individuals from Gov. Blunt’s staff and three from the Missouri Center for the Book will team up in December and whittle the list of nominees down to three potential poets. Gov. Blunt will then make the ultimate decision from the selected nominees and will announce the poet laureate by the middle of the month.
Although Tiedemann will not be one of the five committee members to take a look at the nominations for the coveted poet position, he feels passionately about the search for the poetic representative. “We are looking for someone with literary merit and who is a well-known, established poet with a body of work,” Tiedemann says. “Also, someone who has the ability to speak to the entire state as a whole.”
According to Tiedemann, Gov. Blunt has the honor of choosing the poet laureate because he has the authority. “Without him, this wouldn’t exist,” Tiedemann says. Traditionally the governor decided on the poet laureate in other states as well. There are 41 states with the position in place.
Profiling the laureate
Missouri has a healthy appetite for artistic and literary endeavors and was home to such poets as Langston Hughes and Maya Angelou, so it is odd for a poet laureate to be absent in a state so rich in culture. “It’s just one of those things that comes up from time to time, and other things push it aside,” Tiedemann says. “It’s not high on the list of priorities.”
The Missouri Center for the Book has been working diligently on a proposal to instate the poet laureate position for several years now, and something has finally blossomed from its efforts. Tiedemann says the Center for the Book hopes it will become a permanent position.
Jon Holden, a former poet laureate of Kansas, is confused by the longtime absence of a poet laureate in Missouri. Holden served from July 1, 2005 to July 1, 2007 and says he thinks it’s ridiculous that Missouri currently lacks a poet laureate.
“There’s more of a tradition in creative writing in Missouri than in Kansas,” he says. He predicts the competition for the position will be heated. “Some of my friends have asked me who should be the poet laureate of Missouri,” he says, “and I don’t know who I would say because there are a lot of excellent poets in Missouri.”
During his two-year term, Holden gave 10 poetry readings throughout Kansas, including one at The Writer’s Place and at the Midwest Center for the Literary Arts in Wichita, which is a community center, library and a place for writers, readers and anyone else interested in literature to come together. He also organized a handful of poetry contests.
A Blunt poet
Beverly Strohmeyer, executive director of the Missouri Arts Council, is pleased with Gov. Blunt’s decision to name a poet laureate. “We hope that (he or she) will be part of some of our activities, including our Poetry Out Loud statewide competition,” Strohmeyer says.
The competition, for high school students, is a poetry memorization and recitation. “We think there is a natural partnership between the naming of the poet laureate and our competition, and we think it’s a great thing,” she says.
“Supporting the arts has been a priority for Gov. Blunt, and he has worked to ensure there is funding for the arts in Missouri,” Robinson says. Now that the funding is available, she says, it lets Missouri focus on other ways to bring attention to the arts.
In a November press release, Blunt said, “By naming a poet laureate, we will help continue this tradition for future generations of Missourians.”
