Poet Laureate wants to broaden interest in poetry via website

Wednesday, January 16, 2008 9:34 AM CST

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.

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