After three years in the making, the Athens Cultural Affairs Commission is hoping to name a Poet Laureate for Athens. Melisa Cahnmann-Taylor is a professor of TESOL and world language education at UGA. She is on the selection board for the position.
"Usually a Poet Laureate has experience writing poetry, they usually have a publication record, it depends. In some cities, their Poet Laureates tend to be performance poets or rap artists. In other places, Poet Laureates have much more extensive published written works of some level of acclaim and recognition. Often times, Poet Laureates are good public speakers. "
Athens’ Poet Laureate will serve for two years and will receive a $2,000 honorarium. Applicants from a variety of backgrounds are welcome.
"I would say if you're worried about your fit for this position and you're not sure what it takes, I think for this round we'll have a rubric and lots of information. I think it's a good ceiling when you're writing poems by yourself to figure out "Okay, when do I become more public?"."
A public information session is scheduled for February 16 at 6 pm via Zoom on the ACAC website. The deadline for submissions is March 2nd. Decision made sometime in April. You can hear more from Professor Cahnmann-Taylor on this week’s edition of Athens News Matters.
