Natasha Trethewey, U.S. poet laureate, paid a visit to the RCAH Center for Poetry April 2-3. On April 2, she read some of her poetry, and the next day Trethewey was part of a question and answer session with Center for Poetry Director Anita Skeen.
Trethewey feels extremely grateful for the legacies of other poet laureates. She mentioned a few important other “projects” that past laureates have founded, such as Robert Pinsky’s “Favorite Poem Project,” where Americans shared their favorite poems. This project, like the ones before and after it, had a specific purpose: to celebrate and encourage the role of poetry in everyday American life.
Inspired, Trethewey created a project of her own. She held office hours in the Library of Congress’ Poetry Room to meet with the general public to discuss poetry, and connect it to people’s daily lives.
She enjoys being poet laureate because she isn’t asked to write anything specific. One of the most important parts of poetry is being free to who you are, she said. Trethewey has made a name for herself writing about her family. When writing poetry about her father, a somewhat difficult subject, she used other poets’ works to guide her. She has always been more interested in people than in words, because, as she said, words are just a medium.
So, after her second term as poet laureate ends, what is Trethewey going to do? Exactly what she did to get her the position in the first place: write.
“It was incredible to have the national poet laureate visit MSU, and to see the theater full of people of all walks of life coming together to enjoy her poetry,” Linnea Jimison, assistant director of the RCAH Center for Poetry said. “There were people there who had never been to a poetry reading before, and to get to see Natasha read pieces on such important and relevant topics, like how children of mixed-race marriages are viewed in Western society, was a rare and wonderful opportunity. It was truly an amazing way to witness the impact of poetry in our everyday lives.”