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Poetic Government

States without official poets laureate are getting on the bard wagon.

"Roses are red, violets are blue" just won't do in the government milieu. So Wisconsin has set out to choose an official poet laureate. The state's appointee to the four-year term will have the task of promoting Wisconsin poets and their work, and performing at events as requested by the governor, schools or literary organizations. Governor Tommy Thompson called the decision to select a poet laureate a "shining moment for art." Others are wondering, "What took so long?"

More than two-thirds of the states already have a poet laureate, and many named a state poet decades ago. California appointed the first state poet laureate back in 1919. Wisconsin's neighbors, Illinois and Minnesota, designated their first official poets in the 1930s. Madison, Wisconsin's capital city, has had a poet laureate since 1977.

Among the state and local laggards, however, there seems to be a recent upsurge in interest in establishing a formal poet or writer position. The city and county of Sacramento named two poets in April to serve as literary ambassadors. A Michigan senator plans to introduce a bill this month establishing an official state poet. Alaska recently broadened its title from poet laureate to state writer, and plans to have prose writers, poets and playwrights take turns every two years. The terms of the poets laureate range from two years to lifetime appointments, and their responsibilities range from making voluntary appearances to performing a required number of readings and other promotional tasks around the state.

There are certain benefits to having an official poet rather than letting creative types go free form. "Certain people respond to titles who don't respond to other things," says William Kloefkorn, Nebraska's second poet-laureate-for-life, who was appointed in 1982. "That's not altogether bad. There will be organizations and individuals who ask me to do a reading because of the title who wouldn't have been aware of me or asked otherwise."

In addition, he notes, "it's a benefit for young people, especially with high-tech coming in, that the state is recognizing that writing matters."

The job of poet laureate can sometimes be a harrowing one, with readings taking place under unpredictable conditions. Bennie Lee Sinclair, South Carolina's poet laureate until her death in May, wrote a poem for Governor Jim Hodges' inauguration last year. The event took place outdoors and the wind sent the pages of her poem flying. Fortunately, since she was reading her own work, she was able to keep going from memory.

When Governor Thompson was told earlier this year that Wisconsin was one of only 14 states that didn't have a poet laureate, he immediately created a committee charged with the task of filling that void with a published poet. Applicants must submit samples of their work, explain what project they would undertake if they were chosen and demonstrate proven skill in writing poetry. Not all governments are so picky, however. The town of Mazomanie, Wisconsin, for instance, chose its poet laureate by picking a name out of a hat.

No taxpayer money has been appropriated for the Badger State's bard. The job will be a part-time, unpaid position--leading one disgruntled poet to ask why hard-working poets would want to take yet another poetry job for no pay. In fact, most of the state poet positions do not pay, although travel expenses often are provided.

Cathryn Cofell, secretary of the Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets, now hopes the poet laureate will help erase some misconceptions about poets. "There's an image of us being a bunch of beatniks who don't have jobs hanging around in coffee shops," says Cofell, who by day is the vice president of marketing at a credit union. A poet laureate would help get the public to accept poetry, appreciate it and not be afraid of it, Cofell believes. "A poet laureate would be an ambassador of goodwill for the cause of poetry," she says. "It will bring prestige to the art of poetry."

For now, though, it's bringing some ribbing. A local newspaper printed what some people in Madison were jokingly calling the state test for the poet laureate. One of the questions asked nominees to come up with a limerick that rhymed with the Wisconsin town names of Oconomowoc, Mazomanie or Menominee.

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