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June 6, 2007
Nassau County Poet Laureate
A recent Newsday article announced that of the 7 Nassau County legislators voting for poet laureate, only Roslyn's Wayne Wink voted for Maxwell Wheat. The reason cited was that in one of his poems, Wheat was critical of our government for the war in Iraq. O M G... what is going on here? Max Wheat is an 80-year-old successful and celebrated local poet. Do his political views negate his body of work? Does it make him unable to do the job of a poet laureate, which essentially is to promote poetry in Nassau County? Is a citizen not entitled to freedom of expression?
I found the original call for a Nassau Poet Laureate on the Disorganized Librarian's blog. Here is an excerpt:
"To qualify for the position of Nassau County Poet Laureate (NCPL), a poet will be a resident of Nassau County, and remain a resident for the length of his/her poet laureate position, be eighteen years of age or older, submit a one page resume and submit up to three representative samples of poetry (not to exceed three pages, total), understand the NCPL term is two years, and understand, according to the Nassau County Poet Laureate Law (Title 59), “the poet laureate shall promote and encourage poetry within the county and shall give two public readings within the county each year... In addition, the poet will, if chosen as a final candidate, be prepared to conduct an interview by the NCPL Panel to include a description of his/her activities in the poetry community, his/her view of the role of a NCPL and what he/she expects to bring to this role and give an approximate fifteen-minute reading of his/her poems...Most importantly the NCPL Panel is seeking those poets who are dedicated advocates of the role of poetry in the educational and cultural life of poetry in Nassau."
In my opinion, Max Wheat fit all of the criteria outlined above -- none of which have anything to do with politics. And, from the Newsday article, he said, "I was looking forward to it very much. I wanted to make Nassau County accessible to poetry enthusiasts." So sorry you can't, Mr. Wheat.
According to the Library of Congress, Joseph Auslander was the first National Poet Laureate, appointed in 1937. Funnily enough, "he was noted for his war poems, and his best-known work is "The Unconquerables" (1943), a collection of poems addressed to the German-occupied countries of Europe." Ironic, no?
Posted by Michele at June 6, 2007 10:35 AM
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Comments
June 4th SHOULD have been a day to celebrate. Instead it was a day to be ashamed of....
Our LEGISLATIVE branch dropped the ball.
Rather than announce the appointment of Maxwell Corydon Wheat Jr. as NASSAU COUNTY'S First Poet Laureate, they choose to take their petty personal opinions to the podium.
How embarrassing for the rest of us.
How disappointed we are with the Legislative leadership.
Poetry and Art are supposed to emote.
If something makes you uncomfortable.
There is a reason. If it makes you think, that can only be good.
We need to think. Discomfort in a situation can cause you to change it.
This situation is not over.
It's bad enough that the part of our community that expresses themselves through the arts IS NOT supported in this COUNTY......but, to show how small and narrow minded the leadership is.....
Well...that is truly sad. Not much on an example of FREEDOM from oppression from our culture our art, our emotional expressiveness.......
Yesterday should have been a day for ALL of our community to celebrate......
Instead, it was a day to be ashamed of the leadership and the direction that our fair County is headed into.......
Posted by: Pandadoll at June 7, 2007 8:54 AM