How Does a Poet Laureate Take Poetry To The Streets?

A poet laureate takes poetry to the streets!

To me, poetry is getting into a certain state of awareness that allows the words to come through.

Linda Flaherty-Haltmaier, poet laureate

Linda Flaherty Haltmaier is an award-winning author and the inaugural Poet Laureate of Andover, Massachusetts. She is the winner of the Homebound Publications Poetry Prize for her full-length collection, Rolling up the Sky. Her latest collection, To the Left of the Sun, is the winner of the 2018 International Book Award for Poetry. Her work has garnered numerous awards including first place in the Palm Beach Poetry Festival Competition, finalist honors for the Princemere Poetry Prize, the Tucson Festival of the Book Literary Award, the Joy Bale Boone Poetry Prize, the Rash Award for Poetry, and been shortlisted for the Robert Frost Poetry Prize.

Linda’s poems have been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and have appeared extensively in journals and anthologies including the Heartland Review, WSQ, Ink & Letters, Wild Word, and more. Her debut chapbook, Catch and Release, was published by Finishing Line Press. She has presented at the Mass Poetry Festival and completed residencies at the Noepe Center for Literary Arts on Martha’s Vineyard.  A graduate of Harvard, Linda leads poetry workshops, gives readings, and promotes poetry on the North Shore of Boston where she lives with her husband and daughter.

Linda and Kathryn explore themes including:

• How does Amanda Gorman’s influence bring to public awareness the role of a poet laureate?
• How does Linda see herself as an ambassador?
• Why does Kathryn believe that, in times of crisis like we are living in now, people look to our artists, writers, musicians, photographers and screenwriters?
• What does Linda mean when she says, “The body speaks”? How does poetry help us release trauma held in our bodies?
• Who wrote, “Poetry is the unexpected utterance of the soul”?
• What does Linda mean when she talks about The Art of Noticing? How does it relate to the theme of Generous and Reflective Listening?
• How is the Art of Listening being offered in lot of different disciplines in Living Whole Online?
• What is a safe crucible of creation?
• What is the hardest thing for any writer?
• How is poetry playful?

A poet laureate is someone selected to represent poetry as an art form within the community and to raise awareness of poetry through readings and workshops and commemorative poems.

Linda Flaherty-Haltmaier