There’s a poem out there — somewhere — to fit every phase of life, every turn of the seasons, every subtle shift of the heart. “There are poems to celebrate. There are poems to praise. There are poems to commiserate. There are poems to witness. Whatever it is that you might need, there’s going to be a poem for it,” says writer and teacher Charlotte Pence.
As Mobile’s inaugural poet laureate, Pence is busy playing in a literary sandbox, inventing ways to coax people into poetry by pulling it out of the classroom and into everyday life. She’s also using her platform to lift up the diversity of voices in Mobile.
Eight months into her honorary two-year term, she’s made a splash by establishing a monthly poetry reading at LODA ArtWalk. She curates a list of upcoming featured groups whose members — some practiced poets, others not — recite their poetry on the street.
She’s also on the cusp of bringing a creative writing program called “Writing Our Stories” to Strickland Youth Center, which supports troubled kids. To clear the hurdle of funding, she recently scooped up a fellowship from the Academy of American Poets. The curriculum of twice-weekly classes will culminate with a print journal featuring students’ work.
Her role was developed by the Alabama State Council on the Arts as a pilot program to test the idea of city poet laureates in Mobile and Birmingham. They partnered on the initiative with the Mobile Arts Council and the City of Mobile.
“I fully believe that literary art is part of any healthy community,” says Pence. “When we become too separated from our creative selves and just become consumers, we start to feel detached. We start to feel a little bit dead. Any sort of arts, I think, does a lot to reinvigorate a person. It makes life a little more interesting, a little brighter, more meaningful.”
Amid her other jobs — professional writer, creative writing professor at the University of South Alabama and mom, to name a few — Pence is finding inspiration in her role as an advocate and ambassador for poetry in Mobile. “It’s work that I am honestly so pleased and honored I have the privilege to do. I don’t even know where the line is anymore between work and fun.”
Mythologies of the Genius
With two published full-length poetry books and a slew of other publications to her name, plus more awards than you can shake a stick at, Pence is an unequivocal success. But initially, she resisted becoming a writer. She was raised in poverty, and the thought of choosing a career that required years of study with no guarantee of financial success made her insecure.
Today, the scarcity of her childhood informs her work, as she excavates difficult topics like her father’s chronic homelessness. She weaves in science, including anthropological evolution and genetic inheritance, to further explore themes of family and grief.
Her first taste of success came while she was still in college, when The Christian Science Monitor published her first poem for $25. She treated herself to lunch at an Indian buffet and the cheapest bottle of wine she could find — some terrible sweet pink thing. She remembers thinking, “OK, there is a readership. It might be a small readership, but people do crave it.”
It was encouraging, but to stay the course amid life’s competing demands, she had to establish a disciplined writing practice, inspired by memories of looking up to her athletic brother as a shy and bookish child. He worked out a minimum of five hours every day, sweating away whether he wanted to or not.
And then she would hear other people talk about his great God-given talent, as though it simply descended from on high. “I don’t know why we love the mythologies of the genius, or the great raw talent, but we do like those mythologies. I just saw the daily practice that my brother put in place.”
Yet, even with a writing practice in place, for a time she felt uncomfortable calling herself a writer. Her younger self thought that being a writer meant you earned all your income from writing. “I would still be waiting for that, if that was going to be my definition,” she says wryly.
“You have to give yourself that permission. If you keep waiting on the outside world to give you permission, whether through publications or through someone else calling you that, you might be waiting a long time.”
Charlotte’s Poetry Book Recommendations
For the romantic:
“Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair” by Pablo Neruda.
This book is perhaps the most popular by this Nobel Prize winner — and for good reason!
For the person who loves to laugh:
“Seriously Funny: Poems About Love, Death, Religion, Art, Politics, Sex, and Everything Else,” edited by Barbara Hamby and David Kirby. This collection features humorous poems on serious subjects by some of the best contemporary American poets.
For the adventurer:
“A Scrap in the Blessings Jar: New and Selected Poems” by David Bottoms. If you love fishing and the outdoors, David Bottoms is the poet for you.
For the Alabamian:
“Let Us Imagine Her Name” by Sue Brannan Walker, former Alabama Poet Laureate and fellow Mobilian; and “Reparations Now!”
by Ashley Jones, current Alabama Poet Laureate. I couldn’t pick just one book for this category because there are too many excellent poets from Alabama to explore!
For the history buff:
“WHEREAS” by Layli Long Soldier. Using U.S. official treaties, apologies, and responses, Layli Long Soldier, who is a citizen of the Oglala Lakota Nation, explores the way bureaucratic language shapes her identity, history and land.
For the person who thinks they don’t like poetry:
“Devotions: The Selected Poems” by Mary Oliver. Mary Oliver, along with James Wright and Li Young-Lee, was one of the first poets I fell in love with. Each poem features a gem such as this line: “Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”
