Governor Blunt appoints alumnus Walter Bargen as Missouri's first poet laureate


Walter Bargen
photo by Mike Sleadd

Governor Matt Blunt appointed Walter Bargen as the state's first official Missouri Poet Laureate on January 8, 2008.

"Walter Bargen's extensive creative writing experience is impressive, and I look forward to hearing his original poem about Missouri," Blunt said. "As Missouri Poet Laureate Mr. Bargen will help continue Missouri's rich cultural heritage of men and women in the arts."

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 Governor 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," 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."

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. 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. Bargen holds a bachelor's degree in philosophy and a master's degree in English education from the University of Missouri-Columbia. He has worked for 20 years at MU as a senior coordinator for the Assessment Resource Center.

                                 His Best Bark

     In plaid, red-flannel pajamas, hair wild from
sleep, eyes focused on a weathered world, he stands at the
railing, the wood deck sagging with age and his weight,
the house behind him filled with sleepers, and before him
within arm's reach ragged, gray-barked winter oaks.

     He listens to the neighbor's dog run through dry
leaves down the far side of the hollow and cross the creek
towards him. The dog stops, starts, pauses to bark, as if
doubting what it hears, then another bark. Just beyond
the stacked woodpile, they both see the fox, its white-
tipped tail a baton bobbing up and down, leading the
forest in a predawn parade.

     The dog, half pit bull, half mongrel, wants to
follow the fox's red fur. Across its back a large swatch of
gray--a trick to confuse, to stir debate, if it runs for deep
woods. The fox bounds forward and yaps, its bark
sharper. The dog answers. The fox moves slower. The
dog draws closer. The yapping and barking goes on.
How much longer before they meet? The sun is buried in
fog.

     Growing cold, perhaps feeling left out, he grabs
the railing, steadies himself, opens his mouth, head thrust
slightly forward, and barks. The dog, stunned, stops,
spins, runs down the hill, leaps the creek, and races to its
house, before turning back and rabidly barking. The fox
strolls up the hollow, yapping every few steps.

from Harmonic Balance

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. Bargen also will compose an original poem in honor of Missouri and will perform the poem at an event commemorating the new position.

Blunt announced plans to name the first official Missouri Poet Laureate in October and created the position by Executive Order. To be considered for the position, nominees had to be a current resident of the state. Missourians interested in becoming or nominating the state's first poet laureate were asked to submit writing samples and background information to the governor's office. The response was overwhelming and Blunt worked with the Missouri Center for the Book in the selection of Missouri's first poet laureate, Walter Bargen.

Links:

Walter Bargen

Columbia Daily Tribune article
Columbia Missourian article
Kansas City Star article
St. Louis Post-Dispatch article


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