Sze named Santa Fe's first poet laureate


Arthur Sze, 55, Santa Fe's first poet laureate

By HENRY M. LOPEZ | The New Mexican
January 24, 2006

Arthur Sze lacked direction as a teen. He had no idea what he wanted to do. So he followed his scientist father's footsteps and immersed himself in the culture of numbers and equations at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

"I hated it," he said. "I found myself writing day and night, and I suddenly realized that's what interested me -- working with language."

Soon after, Sze left MIT for the University of California, Berkeley, where he embraced the world of words. It was the first step in a long path to Santa Fe, the Institute of American Indian Arts, numerous writing awards and his title as the city's first poet laureate.

"I'm excited for the opportunity to make poetry a part of our community, and I hope it can be a vital force in our lives," he said.

The city's arts commission made Sze's selection as poet laureate official Monday. The author of eight poetry books will serve in the newly established post for two years beginning in March. On Wednesday, he will be introduced to the City Council during its 4 p.m. meeting at City Hall.

Sze's first official reading is March 14, during the inauguration of the city's new mayor and city councilors. He does not know whether a theme will course through his city-focused works, but said he expects to surprise people with his poetry.

"I think good poetry requires a kind of power of imagination, a kind of command of language, a sense of musicality and sense of rhythm," Sze said. "Those are all essential elements to a poem."

Sze's selection to the post caps a competition that began with 11 people in October.

"We had three excellent candidates. ... it was really a hard decision," Arts Commissioner Rena Oyenque-Salazar said. Sze, she added, "had a really exciting plan on how he was going to help the community."

A city Arts Committee panel judged the poets on their ability to write and read poetry and develop a community-outreach plan. Last week, Sze and two other finalists, Jon Davis and Valerie Martinez, read poetry to the panel.

Sze's reading style impressed the panel, said Debra Garcia, a senior planner for the arts commission. "He brings a strong educational component to the position," she said.

The commission will pay Sze a $5,000 yearly stipend funded by private donors. The stipend includes $2,000 for four annual appearances at city functions and $3,000 for work establishing an educational-outreach program. An endowment has been established with the Santa Fe Community Foundation to fund the program.

"I want to work with the entire Santa Fe community," he said. "I'm really hoping to reach out to everyone."

The program Sze outlined includes at least two themed poetry readings, each preceded by a public workshop. The first he plans to hold in an art center or museum and will be an exercise in ekphrastic poetry -- writing inspired by works of art. A number of poets will then be selected to participate in the reading.

"Obviously I want to reach out to the Hispanic community, the Native community, the Anglo community -- and pool resources so poets will reflect different points of view," he said. A second proposed reading would center on environmental poetry. He plans to hold an accompanying workshop at Aspen Vista -- a popular area to see the changing colors of Aspen trees in autumn.

"I'm hoping some of the poems in the workshop can then be included in the themed reading," Sze said.

Sze's third proposed event would convene a panel of poets and social scientists to discuss the loss of meaning that often occurs when poetry is translated between languages.

"So a poet who writes in Tewa or Navajo might describe how so much gets lost in English," Sze said. "Or even a poet writing in Spanish can talk about how it's impossible to convey what's happening in Spanish into English."

Asked to describe his own writing style, Sze chuckled. "That's hard because I've been called so many things, from a surrealist to an imagist to a cubist to an ecstatic to a minimalist," he said. "Sharp visual images are always important to me."

Sze has taught at IAIA for 22 years and is the school's first professor emeritus and plans to retire from the institute at the end of the school year. He was a founder of the school's Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in creative writing. He's taught courses in Japanese and Chinese poetry, literature and Shakespeare. His hobbies, in addition to poetry, include mushroom hunting.

Contact Henry M. Lopez at 995-3815 or hlopez@sfnewmexican.com. ABOUT ARTHUR SZE Arthur Sze, 55, Santa Fe’s first poet laureate Author of eight poetry books City resident, 33 years Institute of American Indian Arts professor, 22 years He begins his two-year term in March at mayoral/ City Council inauguration.