Lake Superior Writers Poet Laureate

Lake Superior Writers

Short Oral History of Poetry in Duluth

A SHORT WRITTEN SUMMARY
DULUTH POET LAUREATE EVENT
Nov 4, 2006. 1 pm - “A Short Oral History of Poetry in Duluth” was presented in the Green Room of the Duluth Public Library.

Duluth’s first Poet Laureate, Barton Sutter, opened the event with a warm welcome and brief introduction, noting how gratified he was to have found, in the course of preparing for this event, such a wide and deep lode of poetic tradition in Duluth. Before a crowd of more than one hundred, he spoke of the rich Scandinavian immigrant experience in the Arrowhead region as a major contributor to Duluth’s cultural and poetic heritage. He also commented that the Duluth area’s place in Minnesota’s and America’s literary history has yet to be mined and written about.

Next, Sutter introduced his panel, and each spoke in turn of his or her experiences and contributions to Duluth’s literary community during the last 30+ years.

Cal Benson, retired Duluth secondary English teacher and Lake Superior Writers board member, recounted his efforts to bring arts, and specifically writing and poetry, into the minds and hearts of Duluth young people. He expressed gratitude to poets in the Duluth area for their willingness to come, uncompensated, into classrooms and he noted, with some optimism, that the students of today are much more open to poetry—both the reading and writing of it—than they were thirty years ago.

Mara Hart, retired UMD librarian, holder of many degrees, and published memoirist, recounted her work and associations with various Minnesota poets and poetry journals, including North Country Anvil, PlainSong, and the Wolf Head Quarterly. Since arriving in Superior Wisconsin with her former husband, poet Ray Smith, in 1971, Hart has worked tirelessly to promote writing and poets in the area. She also commented that her work with Lake Superior Writers has been very gratifying and noted that any aspiring poets in the audience should consider joining Cal Benson’s new poetry group.

Jim Johnson, teacher and “famous” published poet, credited his Finnish heritage and family history as the well-spring of his poetic inspiration. In l986 or thereabouts, he noticed that while much of the region’s population claims Scandinavian immigrant ancestry, not many writers were committing those “very literate,” and often politically radical, cultural experiences to paper. Johnson reminded us of the long tradition of oral history and recounted that as a boy on the Iron Range, he once heard a Finnish woman recite the epic poem, the "Kalavala." As a teacher at Denfeld High School, Johnson founded the “Walt Whitman Fan Club,” which met weekly in his classroom before school started, to read and write poetry. He, too, concurred with Benson, that people, and especially kids, “do love poetry.”

Ellie Schoenfeld, poet and co-founder of the poetry publication Poetry Harbor, relayed her efforts in the 80’s and 90’s to help Duluth poets find public venues for their writing. With Patrick and Andrea McKinnon and others, she established regular poetry open mic events at Sir Benedict’s Tavern on the Lake. As these evolved, Poetry Harbor moved to the DeWitt Seitz Building in Canal Park, and Schoenfeld worked with others to create readings for local poets, as well as to publish the North Coast Review. With these and a poetry reading program on Public Access Cable, Schoenfeld and Poetry Harbor contributed greatly to creating an audience for poetry in the Duluth area.

Sutter also introduced Francis Heid, whose Zenith City Arts magazine was published from 1986 to 1991. After fielding a few questions, Sutter invited the audience to peruse the extensive displays of historic regional book and journal publications around the room and challenged them to find answers to several Duluth poetry trivia questions during a short break. Upon re-convening, the poet and panelists examined the role of the poet in troubled political times, discussed the need for better and more extensive arts news coverage in the area (“Where are the reporters and TV cameras today? Why aren’t they here?” Sutter asked). The group made a list of past Duluth and area publications that printed poetry. The list included: Zenith City Arts, North Coast Review, North Country Anvil, PlainSong, and the Wolf Head Quarterly, Circular Muse, Roaring Muse (UMD), Out of Words (St. Scholastica), RipSaw, and others. Finally, all generally agreed that the future of poetry in the Arrowhead Region, if we nurture it carefully and continue to work hard at it, looks pretty exciting.
Respectfully submitted,

Terry Falsani
Recording Secretary, Lake Superior Writers Board

See a story about two Minnesota Poet Laureates, Barton Sutter and Carol Connolly.