Almost 200 years ago, English essayist Thomas Macaulay said, “As civilization advances, poetry necessarily declines.” Some may disagree that our civilization actually has advanced, but there’s little question that poetry is the ugly stepchild of the contemporary literary scene. While everyone from love-struck teenagers to your uncle Max writes poetry of a type at some time, virtually no one reads it or buys it.
Publishers consider a printing of 2,000 copies to be optimistic, and if sales reach the 5,000 level, it’s drinks all around. Consider this in contrast to the sales of books like “The Da Vinci Code” and it’s a pretty depressing vision, especially as we celebrate National Poetry Month.
It is to Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper’s credit that he has announced what he calls a new “poetry initiative” to address the situation and recently named Chris Ransick to follow Lalo Delgado as the city’s poet laureate. The initiative, which was formally introduced at a party at the Denver Public Library on March 22, turns out to consist of running placards of poems on city buses and light-rail cars. The mayor also said he hoped City Council members will quote poems at public outings. We’ll look forward to that, but in the meantime, congratulations to the mayor for pushing the envelope in an area most politicians would consider ephemeral at best.
At the same time, if something is worth doing, it’s worth doing well. Hyperbole was the order of the day at the library event with everyone praising everyone else fulsomely, but the truth is that the mayor’s choice of Ransick, whose first book of poems was published in 2003, is a bit underwhelming. Normally, a laureateship, whether at the national or local level, is the capstone of a distinguished career rather than an indication of future potential.
To choose just one local example, Mary Crow, who serves as the state poet laureate, has published her poems and translations widely while putting together a distinguished teaching career at Colorado State University. And while the poetry scene in Denver is not the equal of New York or Paris, there are a number of accomplished poets living here whom the mayor might have selected. Bin Ramke teaches in the University of Denver’s creative writing program and has won the Yale Younger Poet’s Prize, while PattiAnn Rogers has published widely and won fellowships from the Guggenheim and Lannon foundations.
Comparing Ransick, a relative newcomer, to these poets would be unfair to him and these comments should not in any way be construed as criticism of the new poet laureate but rather as observations of a flawed process that led, as such things always do, to a disappointing result.
For reasons of their own, the mayor and his minions decided that the city’s spokesman for poetry should be selected through an application process, with a committee representing various political constituencies making the final cut. The mayor is fond of committees, though they often lead to compromise candidates and everyone’s second choice. This apparently did not happen in this instance, but one suspects that the more experienced poets just chose not to submit themselves to the process, and who can blame them? Wouldn’t it make more sense for the mayor to put together a short list in consultation with those knowledgeable about poetry and then, politics be damned, appoint one of them?
The mayor likes to pretend Denver is a leader in the arts, but this really is not the case, at least not yet. Nevertheless, poetry is worth celebrating, and the love fest at the library more appropriately couls have brought one of our deserving senior poets to the public’s attention. The emoluments of the laureate position amount to much – a $2,000 honorarium to be spread over the two-year term, no office and no expense budget. Thus it’s hard to imagine the laureateship being much more than an honorific with the poet writing poems celebrating various civic events over time. Crow has supplemented her limited budget with grants, but few poets will show her initiative or skill at fundraising.
Jake Adam York, who chaired the 10-person selection committee said, “I think this is all part of the mayor’s vision of Denver as a major creative center, but if the mayor wants to ensure a long-term program, he should really put more money behind it. I know Chris wants to do a lot of great things, but it takes money to do things.”
True enough, but there remain those who disapprove of this whole approach to poetry. As one distinguished Denver poet, who in a better world might have been appointed, said, “I guess I just don’t like the idea of a poet laureate. … It seems in a way, trivializing. If poetry matters, it matters as itself, not because of a political appointment.”
Tattered Cover: shrewd move?
After more than 30 years at three locations in the Cherry Creek area, the venerable Tattered Cover Book Store is moving. Joyce Meskis, president of TC, will relocate in June to the Lowenstein Theatre at 2526 E. Colfax, across the street from East High School. Twist & Shout and a movie theater will be across the way, and plans call for a restaurant and small retail to fill out the theater space.
The Colfax area has been known for a number of things over the years, but despite some fine used book stores, literature has not been one of them. Moreover, the Lowenstein building has been vacant for 20 years, and there’s probably a reason for that. Still, those of us who have known Meskis over the years have come to respect both her business acumen and willingness to take chances. This may well be the biggest one yet, but Meskis is characteristically upbeat.
“All moves have a degree of risk,” she says. “But this space fits our needs and will allow us to create a welcoming atmosphere and be part of an exciting redevelopment of Colfax.”
What may not be generally known is that despite a loyal customer base, the Tattered Cover’s business has fallen off in recent years, victim to competition from big-box stores and the Internet. “The jury is always out in business life,” Meskis says, “and the book business is a special challenge for independents. In the early ’90s, market share for independents was 32 percent; now it’s half that.”
Of course the TC’s advantage was always in customer service and in its huge inventory. What other store, for instance, had a buyer who specialized in university press books or foreign publications? What’s more, in days gone by, you could actually buy volumes from Loeb’s Classical Library and the whole 27-volume Oxford English Dictionary off the shelf. This is no longer the case, but there’s still a greater chance that you’ll find that edgy new novel at the Tattered Cover than at a big-box stores in the mall.
The TC’s stated intention has always been to “bring books and people together,” and they’ve been a valued member of literary community in this role. Behind her benign smile, however, Meskis always has had a good sense for the bottom line. The bet here is she’s ahead of the curve again and will do fine on Colfax. Those who really care about reading and writing in Denver certainly hope this will be the case.
David Milofsky is a Denver novelist and professor of English at Colorado State University in Fort Collins.
