Poet Laureate wants to broaden interest in poetry via website
Walter Bargen didn't know exactly what to expect when he was named the state's first poet laureate last week. He didn't expect the honor and he was stunned to see his website, www.walterbargen.com, jump from a "flat-line" of hits to a peak of 25,000 hits last Wednesday.
"It is one of the little surprises that has gone along with this," Bargen said from his desk at the University of Missouri Department of Education.
Bargen's appointment by Gov. Matt Blunt comes the responsibility of "helping continue Missouri's rich cultural heritage of men and women in the arts," Blunt said.
While he is not exactly sure the logistics of being the state's poet laureate, Bargen, 59, will surely keep writing.
A long-time resident of the south county area, Bargen has published 11 books of poetry.
"I started writing at the end of my junior year in high school," Bargen said of his teen years at Belton High School. "There was a desire, an attempt to write poetry. I don't know that I loved it, but I have come to cherish it. I find writing addictive."
Bargen graduated from the University of Missouri with an undergraduate degree in philosophy and a Masters in English Education.
While he now works at MU, Bargen has held a variety of jobs, which he says have somehow synchronized with his writing.
"I have worked in construction, at the library, as an apple picker, a lab technician, a carpenter and a bicycle mechanic, to name a few," Bargen said. "I also wrote construction specifications, which was some of the best training I had for writing poetry. It requires attention to detail and I had to be very specific and avoid ambiguity."
Bargen said his writing would benefit from the variety of jobs, especially the jobs of physical labor. "Doing physical jobs frees up your mind and the two activities don't get in the way of each other," Bargen said. "On the other hand, physical labor can leave you too exhausted to and get in the way of your writing."
Bargen will be at the state capital on Feb. 13 to receive his Missouri Arts Council Award and he has already scheduled visits to the Southern Boone Library and the Daniel Boone Regional Library in Columbia for April.
"I want to broaden the audience for poetry," Bargen said. "I want to make it a daily interest and one way I hope to do that is create a website with Missouri poets." Bargen said he hoped Missouri schools and libraries would make use of the website.
Bargen was chosen Missouri's Poet Laureate above 135 nominations sent to the governor's office after he announced the new position in October 2007.