From Governor Matt Blunt's Press Release...
Gov. Matt Blunt today appointed Walter Bargen as the state’s first official Missouri Poet Laureate.
“Walter Bargen’s extensive creative writing experience is impressive, and I look forward to hearing his original poem about Missouri,” Gov. Blunt said. “As Missouri Poet Laureate Mr. Bargen will help continue Missouri’s rich cultural heritage of men and women in the arts.”
Gov. Blunt created the Missouri Poet Laureate position through executive order to help promote the arts in Missouri and to encourage Missourians to learn more about the many cultural opportunities available in the state.
“I want to thank Gov. Blunt for recognizing the vital role that poetry can play in the lives of the citizens of this state, for establishing the position of Poet Laureate to further that goal, and for my appointment as the first Poet Laureate for the State of Missouri,” Mr. Bargen said. “It’s not often that one has the opportunity to be first at something, but that’s what poets do everyday, they are first at writing words, images, ideas on the blank page or screen that sits in front of them. We need poetry to keep us awake and fresh, when so much today works to dull our imaginations.”
Mr. Bargen, 59 of Ashland, has published nine books and two chapbooks of poems over the last 28 years. Among his work is The Feast: Prose Poem Sequences, which won the 2005 William Rockhill Nelson Award for best poetry book by a Missouri writer. His work has appeared in more than 100 magazine publications, including American Literary Review, International Quarterly, Missouri Review, and River Styx. Mr. Bargen has been recognized for his literary achievements as a recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts poetry fellowship in 1991 and as winner of the Quarter After Eight Prose Prize in 1996, the Hanks Prize in 1996, and the Chester H. Jones Foundation poetry prize in 1997. Mr. Bargen holds a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and a master’s degree in English education from the University of Missouri-Columbia.
Mr. Bargen will serve as the state’s first official Missouri Poet Laureate for a term of two years and serving at the pleasure of the governor. The Missouri Poet Laureate is responsible for helping promote the arts in Missouri by making a minimum of six appearances per year at public libraries and schools across the state. Mr. Bargen also will compose an original poem in honor of Missouri and will perform the poem at an event commemorating the new position.
Read the complete press release.
