By Jessica Able, Record Staff Writer
Kentucky’s new poet laureate wants to make poetry accessible to all Kentuckians during his term.
Frederick Smock, a professor of English at Bellarmine University, was named Kentucky Poet Laureate for 2017-2018 by Gov. Matt Bevin last month.
The nearly-two year post is an opportunity, Smock said, to make poetry relevant to citizens of the Commonwealth.
“It’s all about accessibility. I like to bring poetry to everyone,” he said in a recent interview.
“Children are natural poets. They are great with metaphors. They are great with sound. Somehow along the way, we teach the joy out of them,” he said.
At Bellarmine, Smock mostly teaches courses in poetry and creative writing. He begins by trying to quash any misconceptions students may bring with them.
“On the first day of class, I ask students if they had a teacher who asked them to find the hidden meaning of a poem,” he said. Numerous hands go up each time, he said.
Teaching poetry that way can be a turn-off, he said. If a teacher has one interpretation and wants you to guess it, “that’s not fun.”
“It invalidates that experience you had of reading it. Poems don’t come with basements and closets and secret doors,” he said.
As poet laureate, Smock will bring that message to a wider audience.
Kentucky’s poet laureate is expected to promote the literary arts across Kentucky, according to the Kentucky Arts Council. The appointment is two-fold: First, Smock is meant to encourage and accept invitations to speak and share his poetry.
Secondly, he is expected to develop a project. Smock’s project will center on encouraging children and adults across the Commonwealth to read a poem each day.
“I hope people can take a few minutes, unplug and just read. They don’t have to write about it or take a test, just take a meditative approach,” he said.
His project is still in development, but he plans to work with the Kentucky Arts Council to set up a database where people will be able to submit their selections.
Smock attributes his love of language and the written word to his devotion to books as a child.
“I was always a reader as a child. I took solace in books; I loved stories. That continued as I got older, with the encouragement of wonderful teachers all along the way,” he said.
Most of Smock’s poetry conjures images of nature. His form is sparse and concise with a slow, meditative pace. His words transport the reader to the scene of the poem, most often the natural world.
As a child, he roamed the hillside of his family home in Fern Creek. Today, he stays close to nature, living near the “tree canopy” of Cherokee Park, he said.
Smock describes his writing process as an “act of discovery.” The end result, he said, is “very often a surprise.”
“I take what the world gives me. It’s often a phrase or an individual word. I tease it out and see if it leads anywhere,” he said.
Smock has taught at Bellarmine since 1997. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown College in Georgetown, Ky., and a master’s degree from the University of Louisville.
He has written 10 books of poems and essays, including “The Bounteous World,” “The Blue Hour” and “Pax Intrantibus: A Meditation on the Poetry of Thomas Merton.”
He is the recipient of the 2002 Henry Leadingham Poetry Prize, the 2003 Jim Wayne Miller Prize for Poetry and the 2008 Kentucky Literary Award for Poetry. Bellarmine awarded him the Wilson Wyatt Faculty Award in 2005.
Smock is available for readings with schools and organizations. To request a reading, contact him at fsmock@bellarmine.edu.
