Missouri Press Association
Serving Missouri Newspapers Since 1867
Goodbye and thank you. This is the final issue of "Poetry from Daily Life." We published the first column on Nov. 5, 2023 and now, almost two years and 100 columns later, we have come to the end. My term as Missouri Poet Laureate concludes this weekend and so, too, does my weekly column.
There are many people I want to thank for the opportunity to host this series. First comes Amos Bridges, editor-in-chief for the Springfield News-Leader. It was Amos who accepted my proposal and provided the support that made this all possible. In today’s news market, it is rare for a newspaper to carry poetry, much less a poetry column. I will be forever grateful to Amos and others at the News-Leader for being such steady, caring sponsors.
"Poetry from Daily Life" has appeared in at least five other papers, too, and I thank those responsible at each one: Columbia Daily Tribune (Missouri), Hermann Advertiser Courier (Missouri), Brookings Register (South Dakota) Cunningham Courier (Kansas), and Kansas City Call (Missouri). Together with the News-Leader, more than 105,000 readers have had access every week to the latest column. Who knows how many read the columns. Maybe 5%? That would be more than 5,000 readers weekly and half a million total readings during the column's run. That's not counting the readers who have found the column online, including through syndication on Yahoo, or who may read them in the future as the Missouri Press Association continues to make them available for newspapers to reprint at https://mopress.com/poetry/.
I have 60 other important people to thank — the writers of the columns, none of whom were paid for their contributions and all of whom shared wisdom from their own vast storehouses of knowledge and experience. My expert guest columns came from 25 states and three other countries. They include poets, authors, professors, journalists, teachers, and editors, creating together one of the most comprehensive, unique libraries anywhere on the general subject of poetry and how it impacts our lives.
Thank you Alan Katz, Allan Wolf, Amos Bridges, Angela Jackson, Barbara Loots, Bob Stephens, Charles Ghigna, Charles Waters, Constance Levy, Dottie Joslyn, Eileen Spinell, Ellen Hopkins, Eric Ode, Gemma Blackburn, Georgia Heard, Greg Pincus, Heather Lende, Heidi Mordhorst, Irene Latham, Jane Yolen, Janet Wong, Jo Van Arkel, Joseph Bruchac, Julie Clayton, Kalli Dakos, Kate Coombs, Ken Slesarik, Kenn Nesbitt, Laura Purdie Salas, Laura Robb, Lauren Camp, Lesléa Newman, Lola Haskins, Marcus Cafagna, Marilyn Singer, Marjorie Maddox, Maryfrances Wagner, Mary Jo Fresch, Mary Margaret Huges, Matt Forrest Esenwine, Matt Hoisch, Matt Mason, Michael Salinger, Michelle Schaub, Nancy Bo Flood, Nile Stanley, Randle Chow, Rebecca Dotlich, Rex Ybañez, Sandy Asher, Scot Young, Sylvia Vardell, Ted Kooser, Tim Rasinski, Tina Hacker, Traci Brimhall, Virginia Lowe, Walter Bargen, William Trowbridge, and Wyatt Townley.
If our 60 columnists shared on average with five others each week, that might mean an additional 30,300 readings over the life of the series. The biggest list of all is our readers. I wish I knew who you are and could thank you personally for reading us and sharing favorite columns with family, friends, and colleagues. Also, each week I send links to deans and department heads at five universities in three states and they share them with faculty and students.
More recently we’ve started a video library of our columnists recording their work called the "Poetry from Daily Life Free Video Library." You can find the first 52 entries at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5wGqp5vbw2K0N7cFcGwN5w. Eight others will be added in the next few weeks. The goal of "Poetry from Daily Life" has been to engage as many people as possible in conversations and considerations about poetry. To the extent that we have accomplished our goal, I owe it all to you. Thank you.
David L. Harrison has been Missouri’s 7th Poet Laureate. He has published 110 books for children and teachers. His work has been sandblasted in a sidewalk in Arizona, painted on a bookmobile in Colorado, and tattooed on a leg in Ohio. David Harrison Elementary School is named in his honor. Follow him on his blog at http://davidlharrison.wordpress.com and visit his website at http://davidlharrison.com.
