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Poetry goes nationwide
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In an era where medics and firefighters run in high demand, and the Business College is brimming with eager young potential CEOs, it almost seems superfluous to find the most melodic way of comparing love to a flower.
When Barbara Ehrenreich set out to chronicle the plight of the working poor by joining their ranks incognito in her 2001 book “Nickel and Dimed,” her friends asked her if people were surprised when they learned that she was really a writer. In Ehrenreich’s experience, she learned nearly everyone was a writer – they all wrote poetry or stories in their spare time.
For Boise State professor Janet Holmes, though she majored in English at Duke University, she did not expect to find gainful employment in the field, nor did she realize writing could be a life path, or more than a spare time activity.
At the time she won a poetry contest in 1993 that would mean a published book, she was working for a corporation.
“At that point, I was kind of outed to the corporate people that I worked with, who thought it was very funny that I was writing poetry,” Holmes said. “From that time, I began to realize I could use my M.F.A. to teach and spend more time doing the writing that I wanted to.”
Holmes then decided to seek out adjunct faculty positions, ending up at the University of Minnesota, as well as some smaller colleges. She ultimately came to Boise State because of the fairly recent birth of the M.F.A. program in creative writing.
Soon there after, Holmes found herself heading one of the institutions of Boise State’s English literature departments, the Ahsahta Press. The name Ahsahta is a Native American word meaning “Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep,” and was first recorded during the Lewis and Clark expedition.
Lewis and Clark set the tone for the press’s early days, beginning in 1975, focusing on chiefly Western writers. Since the inception of the M.F.A. program, the scope of the press has expanded nationwide.
Holmes says that the press focuses on publishing poetry, not necessarily first time authors, but perhaps those who have not yet reached a mass audience.
According to the Ahsahta Press web set, the press is looking for poetry that is, “technically accomplished, distinctive in style, and thematically fresh.” In 2001, Ahsahta launched the Sawtooth Prize, a competition for a book-length collection of poetry to be judged by a national poet.
Holmes said she expected between 250 to 300 entries, and was started to receive 575.
“The word is out. People know about Ahsahta Press and Boise State as a result. And I think we will continue to make a name for ourselves,” she said.
Holmes also has a new book out, published in September, called “Humanophone,” which she says is drawing good response.
The book was published by University of Notre Dame press, begging the obvious question: Was Ahsahta not good enough?
“I don’t think it would be in very good form to publish my own work,” Holmes said.
In this era where poetry does not seem of prime importance – this reporter can name only two books of poems published in the last 10 years and one of them was by Jewel – Holmes says that creative writing programs can focus a student on taking writing out of the background and making it important in a budding writer’s life.
Holmes also acknowledges the diversity of modern poetry, and the new vogue of spoken-word and slam poetry, but says that beyond the “populist” trend, poetry is also philosophical, playing with words and language.
Unlike science, there can be no one way to write a poem. Holmes said she does not tell her students what she wants, and that an easy way to help introductory students get over fear of writing a poem is telling them not to second-guess what she’s after.
“It makes no sense in poetry to do just what professors want,” Holmes said.
Sean C. Hayes
