BY CJ GIBSON
FHSU is starting a new stanza with the naming of the school’s first-ever Poet Laureate: Emily Linder.
Linder is in her senior year at FHSU. After graduating from the KAMS program in 2018, Linder is majoring in English (Writing Concentration) and minoring in Communications.
In addition to her English studies and personal writing projects, Linder is also the President of Sigma Tau Delta, the FHSU English Honor Society.
“I know from my experience in KAMS that not everyone finds poetry very accessible or easy to understand. There’s so many different types of it too, that each person is going to have their own style and favorite forms,” Linder said, “So I hope to start discussions about my favorite styles with people, introduce them to something they maybe never read or considered before, and to make poetry accessible to everyone.”
The FHSU Poet Laureate is a new position announced in the fall of 2020 that is designed to share poetry with the community through outreach programs.
“I’m extremely excited about the new Poet Laureate position and I feel very honored to be named the first in a long line of individuals passionate about poetry,” Linder said in regards to her new title.
Linder’s Poet Laureate Mentor is Morgan Chalfant, an FHSU English Composition instructor.
“He [Chalfant] is a great mentor and he always encourages me to try new things while supporting what I feel comfortable with when it comes to my writing,” Linder said.
Linder wants to share the mental health aspects of poetry that she expresses in her own writings with others during her time as FHSU Poet Laureate.
“I would describe my style as very ‘stream of consciousness’ centric, which means that a lot of what I write helps me process rough times in my life and intense thoughts or emotions I might be having. For me, poetry and mental health go hand in hand,” Linder explained.
Linder’s works “Crave” and “The Sometimes Thing” have been published as a part of the 2019 Kansas’s Best Emerging Poets Anthology.
“Bonsai” is Linder’s most recently written poem.
Click the gallery images to read Linder’s poems.
While nothing is scheduled at this time, Linder does have some plans in mind for future events.
“I hope to organize an activity for students and black-out poetry that can be done both online and on campus,” Linder said. “Blackout poetry is creating poetry from already written articles, books, stories, etc. and then blacking out the words you don’t want with a sharpie to leave behind the words you want to make your own poem.”
Linder hopes to announce dates for her first poetry outreach events near the end of February.
“Additionally, I hope to host two presentations this semester, one about song lyrics as poetry, and another regarding what exactly stream of consciousness poetry is as a style.”