Poet has all the zeal of a preacher
Aaron Anstett doesn't have a pulpit. But he is a book thumper and a believer in the Word, and he preaches his message with evangelistic zeal.
He is a poet.
In fact, Anstett is the figurehead and chief cheerleader for poetry in the region, after being named the first-ever Pikes Peak poet laureate last week. And though he deals in lines and stanzas rather than empty tombs and parting seas, he is as passionate as any preacher about spreading his message of the "pleasures and delights" of poetry.
"Poetry is the least expensive art form to produce. You don't even have to read it; you can hear it," he said. "And it precedes literacy - it's one of the oldest forms of entertainment.
"It tells the story of the tribe. It keeps the language fresh."
Anstett, 39, grew up as a Chicago-area kid, and he still moves at the pace of the big city, throwing off energy as he goes.
He has always been a writer. He studied English at the University of Iowa, then honed his poetry skills while getting his master's degree at the prestigious Iowa Writers' Workshop.
But Anstett didn't retreat into a lonely garret. He got married and had three kids, and he spends his days working as a technical writer for a data storage company.
Some of his poems describe his life in a corporate office: "attempting his best alert, intelligent animal look, interested in project schedules, imagines being taxidermed, pelt propped up with sawdust and armature."
As he wanders through corporate offices, Anstett carries a black notebook in his pocket and whips it out when he needs to take a note, or when a line of poetry is blessedly whispered into his ear.
"We really can't escape our obsessions, so I keep coming back to characters who are in desperate circumstances of some sort. And the poems are often a failed attempt to find redemption in those circumstances," Anstett said. "I like to combine darkness and whimsy."
Those lines have added up to three collections of poetry: "Sustenance" (1997), "No Accident" (2005) and "Each Place the Body's" (2007). The collections have earned Anstett national awards such as the Balcones Poetry Prize and local honors, including being named Best Poet by The Gazette.
Members of the Pikes Peak Poet Laureate Project said they chose Anstett because he offered them the best of both worlds - a poet who has received academic recognition and is also active on the local poetry scene. He is comfortable with slam poets and tenured professors, perhaps because he is neither. Tonight, he is hosting the All-City Poetry Reading and Performances at the Penrose Library, open to all comers.
"I have kind of a long history in this town of making things happen," Anstett said. "One has to be an ambassador, and I sort of have been before."
Former U.S. poet laureate Howard Nemerov famously joked that what the poet laureate primarily does is explain what the poet laureate does. But things have changed since his reign in the 1960s, and these days the position is all about poetry projects in the community.
The Pikes Peak Poet Laureate Project has been successful in getting organized and raising $13,000 to fund itself, but it will ultimately be judged by the success of the projects Anstett takes on.
He hasn't settled on one project yet - the problem isn't coming up with an idea, but deciding one from among many. He'd love to write poetry with returning military personnel, introduce baseball poems at a Sky Sox game, have an animal poetry contest with Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, record local poets reading for blind listeners and get more poetry in the newspaper. He's also involved with events to teach teachers ways to present poetry.
One of his favorite ideas is "Poetry While You Wait," a plan to put poetry in unexpected places such as doctors' offices, dentists' offices, laundromats and the DMV - "someplace where your other choice might be a 2-year-old issue of People," he said.
He's willing to do whatever it takes to spread the word.
DETAILS
All-City Poetry Reading and Performances, hosted by Aaron Anstett
When: 7-8:30 p.m. today Where: Carnegie Room of Penrose Library, 20 N. Cascade Ave. What: Read or perform your original poems or favorite poems by other poets.
Call Anstett at 338-9772 or Jim Ciletti at 634-2367 to reserve a time.
Cost: Free
Mountain of Authors
Where: East Library, 5550 N. Union Blvd.
When: 10 a.m.-3:30 p.m., Saturday Cost: Free, including lunch. No registration required. 4-6 p.m. The Pikes Peak Poet Laureate Project will honor Aaron Anstett, the community's first poet laureate, at a ceremony following the program.
Poet Laureate Invitational - Poetry readings
When: 7-8:30 p.m. April 21
Where: East Library community room, 5550 N. Union Blvd.
Cost: Free
For more information about the Pikes Peak Poet Laureate Project, see www.pikespeakpoetlaureate.org. You can also e-mail info@PikesPeakPoet-Laureate.org or call the Cultural Office of the Pikes Peak Region (COPPeR) at 634-2204. To request services or share ideas with the poet laureate, e-mail poet@pikespeakpoetlaureate.org.
