Wallingford has recently been hunting for someone to serve as a writer and teacher of poetry. Last week, the Wallingford Public Library appointed Katie Eber as the town’s second Poet Laureate.
Ms. Eber, a Wallingford resident, has published her work in numerous publications, including the Garbanzo Literary Journal and the Quail Bell Magazine. Her poetry covers a variety of topics, from nature to religion. Recently, she’s begun writing ekphrastic poems — a style of verse inspired by visual art.
Ms. Eber enjoys the distinctiveness of poetry. “I think poetry is a unique form of writing, in that it can offer a lot of things that we wouldn’t normally get through other genres,” she explained. “It’s an outlet for folks to be honest and share thoughts and feelings so that others can empathize, but it also allows the poet to bury themselves in others’ lives without the commitment of creating a ‘character’ as you do in fiction and creative nonfiction.”
She also believes poetry is an incredibly accessible art form. “I think a lot of folks say they don’t get poetry, but if you look, it’s everywhere,” she said, explaining how poetry lurks in everything from wedding vows to religious texts to graffiti. “You probably can’t go a day without encountering some form of poetry,” she said.
The Wallingford Poet Laureate serves a two-year term. The purpose of the office is to promote the reading, understanding, and writing of poetry. The Poet Laureate’s responsibilities include updating a “Poet’s Corner” column in the library’s newsletter, designing poetry programs for television and public radio, and writing and presenting poems commissioned for major public events. In addition, Ms. Eber will work with teachers to educate the public about her art form. She will teach an Introduction to Poetry course at the library and will share her experience with local schools.
As Poet Laureate, Ms. Eber intends to encourage young poets by spreading the joy of reading. “I grew up in Wallingford, and one of the most meaningful things to me as a kid was the library,” Ms. Eber explained. “I think it really opened doors to me as a young writer-in-training when I was able to simply cross the street after school to go to the Yalesville branch and just open book after book and find a new perspective or world in each.”
Ms. Eber was selected by a committee comprised of library staff members, local educators (from the area’s high schools and universities), and members of other library lead poetry initiatives.
Ms. Eber hopes to give back to the local community during her tenure as Poet Laureate and is determined to expose more Wallingford citizens to poetry. She wants to implement an objective of a poetry festival known as O’ Miami that attempts to put every person in that South Florida city in contact with poetry. “That’s pretty ambitious,” Eber said. “But if a significant percentage of Wallingford encounters a poem in town while I’m poet laureate, I’ll count that as a success.”
