Missouri poet laureate to make Webb City stop

By Melissa Dunson

mdunson@joplinglobe.com

WEBB CITY, Mo. — Missouri’s first-ever poet laureate, Walter Bargen of Ashland, will visit the Webb City Public Library from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 23, for a reading and discussion of his poetry.

Gov. Matt Blunt named Bargen Missouri’s first poet laureate in January after the position was created by executive order in October 2007. Bargen will serve in the position for two years. During that time, he is charged with promoting the arts in Missouri through appearances at public libraries and schools.

Jill Bresson, president of the Friends of Webb City Library, said that as soon as she heard about Bargen and the new position, she sent him an e-mail requesting that he visit Webb City. She was surprised when he agreed.

“We are very excited about him coming,” Bresson said. “The library has also purchased some of his books, and in conjunction with his visit, we will have a poetry contest.”

Submissions to the contest must be typed, and must include the writer’s name, phone number and age. Entries are due at the library by Oct. 13. The contest is limited to one entry per person. Cash prizes will be awarded for first through third places in adult and teen categories.

Bresson said everyone is invited to attend the free event and participate in the contest. Collections of Bargen’s poetry will be for sale after the reading.

Bargen’s work has appeared in more than 100 magazines, including the American Literary Review, American Letters & Commentary, Beloit Poetry Journal, Boulevard, and International Quarterly. He received a National Endowment for the Arts poetry fellowship in 1991. He has won the Quarter After Eight Prose Prize, the Hanks Prize, the Chester H. Jones Foundation poetry prize and the William Rockhill Nelson Award.

Bargen has a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and a master’s degree in English education, both from the University of Missouri-Columbia.