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The Highway One Man
California Poet Laureate Al Young drives to Pacifica to deliver poems among the reads
By Jean Bartlett
Arts Correspondent
Pacifica Tribune November 18, 2009
© Joseph Robinson
When Al Young was grilled several times to see if he was of the right caliber to take on the appointed position of California Poet Laureate, one of those interviews was a forty-five minute session conducted by Governor Schwarzenegger in the Governor’s smoke-allowable tent. State law prohibits smoking within 20 feet of a state building, so Arnold, at his own expense, created a tented spot in the courtyard where he could smoke cigars with aplomb while deciding on various issues.
“The Governor, seated with four advisors, all women, conducted the interview, puffing along and looking down on me,” laughed the genial Young.
Schwarzenegger recited Young’s poem, “Conjugal Visits” from The Sound of Dreams Remembered: Poems 1990-2000 by Al Young.
“The subtext of the poem is prison reform,” said Young, which the Governor informed the laureate candidate he supported. The Governor also quizzed Young on his politics, primarily because the previous appointed poet laureate, who was booted, had been somewhat of an embarrassment due to fabricating his education. Young told Schwarzenegger that all poetry was political, even when it opted to not make a political statement, in itself a political statement. To Young’s surprise and honor, he was appointed California Poet Laureate immediately after his meeting with the Governor.
Young served as State Poet Laureate from mid May of 2005 to November of 2008. (Longer than the two year assignment due to the various showdowns and slowdowns within the state’s legislature.)
This Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m., Al Young, world-renowned author, educator and Poet Laureate of California emeritus, will be among the poets presenting at Pacifica Performances Mildred Owen Concert Hall.
Dedicated to Mildred Owen, this is the 14th annual Pacifica Poetry Festival under the guidance of poet and festival director Anna Boothe. Along with Young and Boothe, this year’s featured poets are: Rod Clark, Camincha, Thomas Ekkens and David Hirzel. Ekken’s folk-music band “Green Tea” will open the Festival.
California requires its poet laureate to, “Provide six public readings in urban and rural locations across the state, educate civic and state leaders about the value of poetry and creative expression and undertake a significant cultural project.” The goal is to provide poetic arts to individuals who might otherwise have limited or no exposure.
Young, whose teaching résumé alone could fill a tome, has taught poetry, fiction writing and American literature at such educational venues as: Stanford, UC Berkeley, UC Santa Cruz, UC Davis, Rice University and San José State University. Honors include the Wallace Stegner, Guggenheim, Fulbright and National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships, two Puschart Prizes, two American book Awards and the PEN-USA Award. Plus he has written novels, collections of poetry, essays, memoirs and screenplays – the man’s oeuvre to date is somewhat of a jaw dropper. (Visit his website: http://alyoung.org.)
Nevertheless, Mr. Young might be the only one to point out that he wasn’t doing much when he was appointed to the state’s laureate position and so he did much more than what was “required.”
“I accepted all invitations,” said Young. “One of the things I did was tour with bassist Dan Robbins and we toured 36 places in 12 days: libraries, schools, fishing villages, juvenile centers – it was a wonderful experience.”
Born in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, now pretty much wiped out by Katrina, Young started reading when he was three. “My parents were very literate and they would read to us and I was mystified by this. I would look at their mouths and back at the page and pretty soon, I got it.”
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