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Tuesday, 27 March 2007 14:13 |
 The City of Boston recently made headlines with a proposal to appoint a poet laureate as part of an effort to promote the cityís literary life.
The resolution, introduced by City Council member John Tobin, was expected to be voted on last Tuesday.
If itís passed, Boston would join the ranks of cities such as Duluth and St. Paul, Minn.; Alexandria, Va.; and Denver, Co., in honoring poetry with its own public official.
However,
not all in Boston are in favor of the proposal. While hundreds of poems
ó and even a few limericks ó have been submitted by residents hoping to
attain the position, more than a few have poked fun at the cityís plans.
In one such
poem, talk-show host and blogger Robert Allen Scott wrote took the
following stab at the cityís government: ìBoston residents know/ they
canít escape the facts/ of dwindling city services/ and higher property
tax.î
Sarcasm aside,
we salute Bostonís efforts to promote poetry. And, we think it would be
an excellent idea for Asheville to embrace.
Why not appoint
an Asheville poet laureate? After all, Asheville has a prestigious
literary heritage, with such notables as Thomas Wolfe, O Henry and F.
Scott Fitzgerald having either hailed from here or lived here at some
point.
Furthermore, we
have a lively poetry scene today, with numerous readings, poetry slams
and open mics happening on a regular basis.
Add to that
Ashevilleís long history of supporting the arts ó and its notoriety as
an arts destination ó and it would make good sense to add poetry to the
mix of city-sponsored art forms.
Appointing a
poet laureate may not seem like one of the more pressing issues facing
Asheville, and it isnít. But it also does not require vast resources of
money and energy.
Maybe itís time
for the city to acknowledge one of its many positive aspects by giving
a public face to our creative heritage. So much of the time, headlines
focus on the negative aspects of life here: development, air pollution,
hard drugs.
We think itís time to focus on the positive.
Maybe we could
even get our new poet laureate to interpret City Council meetings in a
series of short, comical limericks. Now that would be a city service!
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