Florida would have a poet laureate appointed by the governor, if a bill passes the Legislature. The measure passed committees in the House and Senate this week.
Florida had a poet laureate, Ed Skellings, who was appointed for life. But he died last year, and Joe Cavanaugh, president of the Florida State Poets Association, is in Tallahassee this week, pushing for an overhaul of the poet laureate appointment process. The idea is for the governor to appoint a poet every four years. That person would spend time in schools.
“We need to work with young people to get them interested in poetry and to get them to realize that, in the words of Peter Meinke, who is the poet laureate of St. Petersburg, Florida, ‘Poetry is the emotional history of the world,’” Cavanaugh said.
The poetry bill is sponsored by Sen. Dorothy Hukill (R-Port Orange) and Rep. Dan Raulerson (R-Plant City). If the bill passes the full Legislature, Raulerson has said he’ll write a poem about the legislative process.