Nebraska State Poet Speaks at PHS
By Emma Risinger
On Thursday, Sept. 14, Nebraska State Poet Matt Mason visited Pierce High School to give a presentation about poetry, which contained some of his own work.
Mason is currently on a Northeast Nebraska tour, visiting Newman Grove Schools, the Hartington Public Library, Niobrara Public Library, Mount Marty College, as well as Pierce in the past week.
“There is such a huge value. Poetry has been a part of human culture as long as there’s been human culture, so obviously it’s something that’s important to some part of us,” Mason replied when asked about the value of teaching students poetry. “For me, I think what it is, is poems are ways of telling our stories, our histories, our myths, whatever, but doing it in an interesting way.”
Mason began writing poetry in high school. He reports, however, that he did not connect with the poems they were reading in class. Despite this, he says that he continued to write things, “in the shape of poems,” which helped him to continue.
In the presentation, Mason explained poetry has been made out to be this complicated, difficult to understand thing, when in actuality it is not. He said that almost all of us love some form of poetry, whether we realize it or not. He explained that song lyrics and rap lyrics are poetry, it is just how you frame it.
Mason says the biggest thing teachers can do to inspire their students to love poetry is, “Show excitement about certain poems. What are the poems that have touched these teachers' lives; don’t be afraid to bring those in and show some excitement. There are poems you have to teach in the classes, and they are great poems, but they can be tougher to connect with, but if you can, bring in some more recent poems, video poems. There’s so many exciting, interesting, funny, weird poems out there.”
A state poet’s term lasts five years, and the process of choosing one is conducted by Humanities Nebraska, the Nebraska Arts Council, and the Nebraska Library Commission. The public nominates poets, then they go through checks with the organizations. Finalists who are still in the running come in for an interview, where poets discuss possible projects that they would like to do as state poets. Then, these organizations send the name to the governor who signs off on the nomination.
Mason’s visit was made possible by Humanities Nebraska, the Nebraska Cultural Endowment, Three Rivers Library System, and Pierce High School.
