Poetry doesn’t need to be confined to English class, it should be integrated into many subjects, and that’s Colorado Poet Laureate Joseph Hutchison’s goal.
Hutchison believes reading poetry and other literature can deepen a student’s understanding of any subject and improve their writing skills. Its a goal that fits in with a greater trend toward integrating writing across subjects.
To help teachers integrate poetry into their classrooms, poems by Colorado writers are going to be uploaded to the Colorado Encyclopedia, where they can be used for free, he told a gathering at the Durango Public Library on Saturday.
Helping integrate poetry across disciplines was part of his intent before he became poet laureate, but it fit with an ongoing project Colorado Humanities was already working on.
There is no time line for the materials to be released, but it is in process, he said.
“The wheels of academia and academia joined to government move a little slowly,” he said.
As part of his talk, Hutchison also explored how to read a poem and understand the transformation in thinking or awareness the author is conveying.
“Any good poem tries to express its transformation in ways that stimulate a similar transformation in the reader,” he said.
mshinn@durangoherald.com
