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Dueling Poets: Minnesota's Laureates
April, 2007, by Cheryl Reitan
Tickled
Minnesota's two poet laureates, Barton Sutter from Duluth and Carol Connolly
from St. Paul are clearly tickled to be tossed together. Sutter calls Connolly,
"one feisty gal," and Connolly says Sutter is, "smart and honest."
Their work has some similarities; each tackle questions --- politics, relationships,
and children --- with directness and unflagging honesty. Sutter and Connolly
are both new to the role. This month marks Sutter's first anniversary and
Connolly was named St. Paul Poet Laureate in June 2006.
Q
& A
Q. Why was Duluth the first city in Minnesota to name a poet laureate?
SUTTER: That’s easy. The people of Duluth are smarter, more soulful,
and more ornery than other residents of the state.
Q. Why did St. Paul name a poet laureate?
CONNOLLY: Someone suggested to Mayor Chris Coleman that St. Paul should have
a poet laureate and he said, “Done!” Someone suggested my name
for the position and he said, “Done!”
Q. What is your main goal as the first Duluth Poet Laureate?
SUTTER: To expand the adult audience for poetry, to draw attention to the
remarkable poetry that’s being written right here, to recognize that
we can be recognized for something besides taconite shipping and hockey. My
friend Jim Johnson says (in a very loud voice) that Duluth is the Poetry Capital
of the United States of America. I haven't noticed any other city rushing
to claim that title, so I think we might as well.
Q. What is your main goal as the first St. Paul Poet Laureate?
CONNOLLY: To continue to promote poetry to readers and writers, and to allow
as many people as possible access to poetry. Poetry deserves every bit of
pomp and circumstance and attention it can get. It’s an art, which makes
the reader a wiser and stronger person.
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ABOUT CAROL CONNOLLY |
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ABOUT BARTON SUTTER |
Q. What are your official duties?
CONNOLLY: I continue to present poets reading their work, each month, as I
have for eight years. I’ve also accepted a charge by the Mayor to write
occasional poems. The first was for the budget address in August 2006, and
it received quite a bit of attention. USA Today included these lines from
the poem in a piece about Boston’s poet laureate debate: “We know
what we do now reverberates forward through time and space/and with every
ounce of our talent exercised, we step up to the plate.”
SUTTER: I plan three public events in the Duluth area each year, keeping in
mind the Duluth Poet Laureate position is the community’s way of honoring
area poets and encouraging the enjoyment of poetry. I don’t write commissioned
pieces.
Q. Who’s your favorite poet?
SUTTER: Anonymous, author of the old folk ballads.
CONNOLLY: My favorites seem to be the last people I’ve hosted in my
reading series. I go back to old favorites often, like Mary Oliver, whose
work helped me through a huge trauma in my life.
Q. Who’s exerted the strongest influence on your own poetry?
CONNOLLY: Meridel LeSeuer believed in me immediately. She and her daughter
founded a publishing company and my work was the first thing they published.
SUTTER: The northern landscape, its critters, plants, and people. My maternal
grandmother, who was an enthusiastic gossip and storyteller all of her very
long life; my father, who was a fine reader-aloud and had a deep appreciation
for quirky characters; my brother, who sings the old, anonymous ballads. Plus,
of course, about 500 authors, living and dead.
Q. Tell us about your work.
SUTTER: Probably the most distinctive aspect of my work is my use of traditional
forms, the ancient patterns of rhythm and rhyme, about half the time. I write
free verse, too, but contemporary poems in traditional forms are fairly scarce.
CONNOLLY: I began writing poetry in 1976 by accident, when the fiction class
I wanted to take at the Loft was full. I signed up for a poetry class instead.
I have eight children and at the time I kept a therapeutic journal. My early
work came from the lines I saved in my journal. It’s personal, but it
is also about the experiences of other women.
Funniest Moment
Q. What’s the funniest moment in your career as a poet?
SUTTER: Years ago, coming off a portage on a solo trip way back in the Boundary
Waters, I ran into a group of young guys, whose leader said, “Are you
alone? You must be a poet.”
CONNOLLY: I have two stories to tell you.
After a reading in New York City for my first book of poetry, Payments
Due, a man came up to me. He was very upset. He said, “I hate your
poetry. I hate your work. I want to buy ten books.”
Payments Due was made into a play and after a performance I overheard
one of the people involved in the production say, “God, she’s
an angry woman.” Later, I wrote a poem for him. He was excited about
the poem, until I recited it. It’s called “Ode.” Here it
is, in its entirety, “I am not/ an angry woman/fuck you.”
Q. What’s the poetry scene like in Duluth these days?
SUTTER: There’s a sort of slow-mo poetry explosion in this town, and
it’s been going on for at least five years. I’d guess there’s
as much poetry happening here as in any city this size in all of the Midwest,
maybe in the entire country. There’s a reading series at all three colleges,
plus many more in the wider community—from coffeehouses to people’s
basements. People turn out in the hundreds for some of these. We’ve
got poetry publishers, workshops, and collaborations with musicians and visual
artists, you name it. There’s a wide range of work being written, and
the best poets are extremely good—from old-timers like Louis Jenkins,
Jim Johnson, and Connie Wanek to young-timers like Nathan Melis, Ryan Vine,
and Jill Woerle.
Q. What’s the poetry scene like in the Twin Cities these
days?
CONNOLLY: It’s thriving. There are more readings at bookstores and other
venues than ever. Traditional work and new forms have good audiences. Slams
are very popular. I’m a fan of Slam Poetry because it’s opinion-based
and that’s the kind of work I like. I even competed in a Slam once and
got to the final round.
Q. Why do so many people prefer reading novels to poetry?
SUTTER: I wonder why people read a novel of 500 pages to be moved to tears
on the last page when a poem can get you there in 14 lines.
CONNOLLY: As I mentioned, Bart is so smart.
Q. Is the audience for poetry any different elsewhere?
SUTTER: Absolutely. In Russia, they’ll fill a soccer stadium to hear
poetry. In a Swedish city, you’ll be standing on a corner, waiting for
the light to change, look down, and see lines from a famous poem cemented
in the sidewalk. The respect, affection, and hunger for poetry run deeper
in Europe than here, maybe because more people have died there. Poetry is
what humans have to say in the face of death. Just look at how often it’s
read, even here, at funerals.
Q. Do you have encouragement for beginning writers?
CONNOLLY: Write every day, if you possibly can. William Stafford said, “Poetry
is talk with some luck in it. You just invite yourself to be lucky when you
talk or write...” I tell beginners to keep writing and don’t worry
about the end product. Kenneth Koch said "When you finish a poem, it
clicks shut like the top of a jewel box." The wonderful thing about poetry
is that you know when the poem is done.
April 2007 Events
DULUTH POET LAUREATE EVENTS
Each year, Lake Superior Writers sponsors dozens of events including writing
groups, workshops, readings and special Poet Laureate events. The April Poet
Laureate event, planned by Sutter, is Duluth Outloud: A Sense of Place, to
be held on Saturday, April 28, at 7 pm, LaFayette Community Center, on the
shore of Lake Superior, 3026 Minnesota Avenue, Duluth. This poetry reading
will celebrate Duluth and the surrounding region and will feature 12 poets,
including Cal Benson, Gary Boelhower, Deborah Cooper, Jean Alice Jacobson,
Jim Johnson, Paul Lundgren, Liz Minette, Sheila Packa, Ellie Schoenfeld, Bart
Sutter, Ryan Vine, and Connie Wanek. The reading is free and open to the public;
refreshments will be served. For info, see http://www.lakesuperiorwriters.org
or call 218-722-3094 or 218-724-1653.
ST. PAUL POET LAUREATE EVENTS
The Intermedia Arts/SASE Carol Connolly Reading Series is an ongoing series
of public literary readings across the Twin Cities. Each year more than 300
writers and poets perform in a dozen different venues. For eight years, Connolly
has hosted a monthly poetry event, most recently held at the University Club
of St. Paul. Her April event is Readings by Writers: a Poetry Month Celebration!,
Tuesday, April 17, 2007, 7:30 pm at the historic University Club of St Paul,
420 Summit Ave, St Paul. The event features Dave Crady, Evelyn Klein, David
Kopf, and Tom Reed. Make reservations for the 5 pm optional dinner by calling
651-222-1751. For more info see www.universityclubofstpaul.com and www.intermediaarts.org.
Poems
| Oprah Winfrey read “Romance” from Carol Connolly’s book, Payments Due on her television show. Romance In every romance
|
“The Necklace” is from Barton Sutter’s book of poetry Farewell to the Starlight in Whiskey. The Necklace Ten tough years, and you are still |
Cheryl Reitan is a witer and editor for the University of Minnesota Duluth. She is also on the board of Lake Superior Writers.
