boboratory.com

Earlier today, an Arizona Senator from southern Arizona posted a tweet as follows:

“#azright Next legislative session, I’ll sponsor a bill to create the position of AZ Poet Laureate to promote written & spoken English in AZ.”

On a personal level, I found the fact that the Senator would suggest that the purpose of the newly created position would be to promote ‘written & spoken English’ as opposed to ‘poetry’ to be unacceptable. The creation of an honored position to promote the written and spoken art of poetry should not come at the exclusion in any sense of the freedoms and liberties we enjoy as a society.

That being said, a review of the draft of the bill to create the position currently has no language to indicate any sort of language discrimination.

This discussion, has led to another revelation- who knew this bill was being presented at all?

Apparently, The Arizona Commission on the Arts knew, as they were quick to try and downplay any response that perhaps may have jeopardized the bill’s position.

Apparently, The Tucson Poetry Center knew.

ASPS (Arizona State Poetry Society) did not.

The community of poets practicing poetry across Arizona did not. The people who publish, read, share, and work on poetry in their daily lives seemed to be caught off guard. My point being, if the community of poets and organizers outside of the institutions were aware and had been involved in the process, then perhaps there would be less of an uprising when some Senator decides to brag that he is going to use the position to support his political agenda.

It’s time for an overhaul.

It is time, with respect to poetry in Arizona, to make some fundamental changes to the way government is involved.

My first Recommendation- All ACA poetry related programs flow through ASPS. One of the most glaring opportunities for the ACA is their failure to effectively build a network of communication between themselves and the larger community of poets outside of pockets in Tucson and.. well, Tucson. By empowering the ASPS as their field agent, and meeting regularly with ASPS leadership to review key communication metrics, it will allow the ACA to both increase it’s exposure at the local level and minimize additional expense associated with an investment in infrstructure.

This also serves the similar benefit of returning ASPS to it’s rightful place as the state designated organization to promote poetry in Arizona.

Recommendation #2- All state funding opportunities for individual poets should include a provision requiring ASPS membership. This serves the dual purpose of increasing membership in the organization, thus allowing ASPS to continue to support the ACA, and it also provides an opportunity for community dialogue, through increased participation in ASPS (and ACA) activities.

Recommendation #3- ASPS should institute an official policy of site visits and interactions to literary events across the state. This can be as simple as any member of the organization volunteering to attend and event and provide feedback back to the organization about the event. It also provides opportunities to speak to the benefits of ASPS membership and interaction with event organizers, relationships that can be leveraged later.

Some of my recomendations for ASPS internally include:

First, a comprehensive review of the membership status and benefits of membership- restructuring aspects of the membership that are outdated and implementing new membership benefits that fit the time.

For example:

• Partner Bookstore discounts
• Promoted discount or free entry to annual contests
• Discounted registration for fall conference or other “ASPS Certified” Events
• “Poem on a page” of the ASPS website
• Sponsored poetry critic
• Obviously the aforementioned ability to apply for state grant monies

Streamline membership costs: membership should be a flat rate regardless of geographical location, with a set amount going to the local chapter and a set amount going to the state organization.

Creation of action committees (2-3 people) for each chapter, to assess the state of membership within the chapter and provide guidance for improving the chapter membership.

Active solicitation of new chapters, in places that have not traditionally held.

Regular meetings between state president and chapter presidents, to review the status of the organization.

In regards to the upcoming Poet Laureate, the legislation lacks key important duties:

• Should be the Keynote speaker at the Fall ASPS conference
• One ASPS officer should serve on the selection committee

More Events. The Poetry Society should gear itself towards promoting more school visits, more speaking engagements, and more feature opportunities for it’s members.

And that’s just the beginning, the need to change the mindset of those that lead poetry and arts in this state is an opportunity to save a lost generation of potential poets.

but what do I know?