POETRY IN MOTION
With announcement that state’s poet laureate is leaving, search is on for replacement
Roses are red. Violets are blue. If you think this is good poetry, Gov. Bruce Rauner doesn’t want you.
What the governor does want is a real poet to become the state’s fifth poet laureate. Rauner’s office on Wednesday announced Kevin Stein is stepping away on Dec. 1.
Stein, an English professor at Bradley University in Peoria, was appointed in December 2003 by former Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
In his role, Stein participated in nearly 250 presentations, poetry readings, school visits and judging activities, as well as the Poetry Now project, which he presented in libraries across Illinois, the governor’s office said. Stein also collaborated with Secretary of State Jesse White for the Gwendolyn Brooks Emerging Poets Contest for 13 years.
Rauner will establish a search committee to initiate the selection process for a new laureate.
Howard Austin, Carl Sandburg and Gwendolyn Brooks previously served as the state’s poet laureate, an unpaid position aimed at promoting the art of poetry.
Austin was designated the state’s first poet laureate in 1936 and served until his death in 1962. Austin was an accountant and schoolteacher who was known for his speed in composing poetry.
Austin wasn’t part of the literary circle but used his words as a “natural expression of who and where he was.” He largely wrote about politics, patriotism, religion, human issues, current events and family, according to his biography.
Sandburg was appointed poet laureate for the state in 1962 and served until his death in 1967. The Galesburg native became an influential part of Chicago’s literary scene, while also winning three Pulitzer prizes.
Brooks — considered a key figure in 20th- century American poetry — was the state’s longestserving Poet Laureate from 1968 until her death in 2000.
Born in Kansas, Brooks moved with her family to the South Side shortly after her birth. She won a Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1950 for her collection “Annie Allen,” which featured poems about race, class and justice.