Elizabeth Austen, the Washington state poet laureate, speaks Saturday in Mineral.
In a juxtaposition almost too poetic to be real, last Saturday night a crew of inmate firefighters listened through the windows of Mineral School while the Washington state poet laureate stood inside reading the power of nature on the human spirit.
The inmates and the dozens of other firefighters camped out behind the school were fresh off the Alder Creek Fire. Elizabeth Austen, the Washington state poet laureate, was there as part of her statewide tour, bringing the literary arts to Lewis County. The event also marked the conclusion of the first year of the Mineral School writer’s residency program.
Austen, a Seattle resident, is the state’s third poet laureate. Her appointment in 2014 was sponsored by Humanities Washington and the Washington State Arts Commission, with the support of Gov. Jay Inslee.
As the poet laureate, Austen’s job is to build awareness and appreciation of poetry through public readings, workshops, lectures and presentations in communities, schools and other public settings in diverse areas of the state.
She shared the stage with Charlotte Austin, a prose writer and mountaineering guide who has summited Mount Rainier more than two dozen times this year alone. The women brought differing but complementary views on how their experiences in the outdoors have shaped them as people.
Austen came from the perspective of a suburban-raised woman who found the courage to take extended solo trips into the wilderness and discovered new things about herself. Under the right circumstances, she leads poetry hikes to try and connect people with the outdoors who would not otherwise go.
Austin, meanwhile, brought the perspective of a woman who has made some of the highest peaks in the world an integral part of her adult life.
Austen is a little more than halfway through a two-year term as the state’s primary spokesperson, supporter and promoter of poetry. She receives a stipend of $10,000 per year to help cover the cost of providing poetry programs and activities statewide.
Much of the poetry she’s sharing in her visits around the state relates to the epic fire season Washington has experienced. She’ll be in Twisp in mid-September to lead a poetry workshop.
Austen is the author of several books on poetry, including “Every Dress a Decision,” “The Girl Who Goes Alone” and “Where Currents Meet.” She works as a communications specialist and educator at Seattle Children’s Hospital and produces literary programming for the Seattle public radio station KUOW.
According to the Humanities Washington website, the Washington State Poet Laureate program is sponsored by Humanities Washington and ArtsWA and funded by the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
In April 2007, the state Legislature passed a bill that acknowledged the value of poetry to the state’s culture and heritage and thus established the Poet Laureate position.
Kathleen Flenniken served as the Washington State Poet Laureate for a two-year term beginning January 2012. The state’s first was Sam Green, who served from 2008-10.
