Great Regulars: There's a need for what I can provide here,

which makes me think about the whole issue of writers helping writers, and what the role of a poet laureate is.

A person doesn't have to have the title to do that, any more than a person has to be a professor of English to write and publish.

What does it mean to "help" writers? First, I think, be a good example.

Do good work yourself, stay disciplined. Give readings. Be generous to those starting out. Read their work.

If you're a state poet laureate, use the recognition to make poetry visible.

from Fleda Brown: Traverse City Record-Eagle: The writing life, after retirement

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