A Literary Laureate Reflects
On Oct. 30, the Healdsburg Literary Guild (HLG) chose Gabriel Fraire as its newest Healdsburg Literary Laureate. This leaves current laureate John Koetzner with two months remaining in his tenure, and time to reflect on his journey.
Koetzner, 59, is the seventh Literary Laureate for the HLG, which represents the Northern County (Windsor, Healdsburg, Geyserville and Cloverdale). Koetzner is the head librarian at Mendocino College, where he also teaches public speaking and critical thinking. Additionally, he teaches public speaking at Santa Rosa Junior College, where he has also been a creative writing professor. He has run a speakers series at Mendocino College for the last 10 years, and a Literary Fest at the school for the past six years.
So what exactly does a literary laureate do? Wax poetic, kiss babies, cut ribbons at the openings of new businesses? Hardly. The tradition of poet laureate began with appointments of poets to the court, when bards wrote poetry for the king’s or emperor’s auspicious occasions. An ode for a birthday, a sonnet for a crowning, that sort of thing. That continues today to some extent, as our national poet laureate presents a special verse at inaugurations of new presidents.
But the real work of laureates is to promote the written word. Koetzner set off on his term with a number of specific goals, the primary one being to get younger people involved. Although he admitted it was a tough go, he believes he has made progress. He worked with middle-school students at the Boys & Girls Club, doing poetry exercises, fun things like “found poetry,” cutting out phrases from the National Enquirer. He succeeded in bringing two teens to read at the HLG’s Third Sunday Salons, Hank Smith and Michela Pearson. Smith ended up having one of his poems published in the HLG’s Valentine’s Day chapbook – the first young person to have that honor.
And Pearson has been named the HLG’s first Youth Laureate. The honor comes with a $100 stipend. Koetzner said the goal next spring is to have a read-off , with the position going to a senior student, running through the following academic year.
He also conducted a series of public workshops at the library. Koetzner said he was disappointed the turnout was low, “but those who attended had fun.”
Another desire the 2012-13 laureate had was to create a publication. During his term, the HLG started “Literary Illuminations,” an online quarterly journal. Members of the Guild submit poetry and prose, and winning entries are posted and then archived.
Something Koetzner has started to work on, but not yet accomplished, is the idea of a playwriting contest. He wants to connect with the Raven Theater, and have a series of one-act, 10-minute plays produced. He hopes to make more progress on this goal before the end of his term.
Koetzner’s advice to the new laureate? “Get out into the community. You have to be present and observing. And with the youth laureate, you need to really connect with them to draw in the younger generation.”
In olden times, the poet laureates wrote and worked in exchange for some gold coins, and usually a bit of good wine.
Koetzner, like all the laureates, did receive a stipend. Instead of gold coin in a velvet bag, it was $250 cash for each of the two years. He chose to donate the money back to the Guild. The first year, the funds enabled the purchase of a public address system for the Third Sunday Salons. The second year, the monies allowed the HLG to help sponsor Lit Fest at Mendocino College, listing them as a sponsor on posters, and enabling members to participate as presenters.
But despite the fact that we’re in Sonoma County, I don’t believe a flagon of wine was part of the package.
The HLG’s Third Sunday Salons meet every month on the third Sunday from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. at the Bean Affair, 1270 Healdsburg Ave., Healdsburg. For more about the HLG, find them on Facebook at Healdsburg Literary Guild.
Michelle Wing is a writer of poetry and creative nonfiction. She has deep roots in community journalism, serves on the board of Redwood Writers and is a member of the Healdsburg Literary Guild. Michelle lives in Cloverdale with her wife and a menagerie. She is assisted in her creative endeavors by her service dog Ripley, never more than a few inches away.
