Poet Laureate Mark Anderson
Photo credit: Dean Davis
MARK ANDERSON:
Spokane Poetry Scene
E.J. IANNELLI
SPOKANE ARTS
ARTS COMMISSIONER
Journalist, copywriter, editor
and translator with more than a
decade of experience spanning
three countries. Literature, music
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strengths.
I
n many respects, Mark Anderson shouldered some of the responsibilities of
Spokane’s poet laureate long before he officially assumed the role. For close to a
decade, he’s been working to strengthen the city’s poetry community from within
and promote it to points beyond. Those efforts earned him a reputation as a poetry
ambassador, of sorts.
“There were definitely people who thought about me like that,” he laughs.
When Anderson, now 30, first began scouting for poetry-centric groups and venues
in his early twenties, the Spokane-area native says “There wasn’t nearly as much”
going on as there is today. “The spoken-word slam community didn’t exist at all.
There weren’t really as many local events put on by colleges. I don’t think I ever
saw open workshops listed in the newspaper.”
That, of course, has changed — rapidly. The city has since created the position of
poet laureate and appointed three in succession: Thom Caraway (2013-15), Laura
Read (2015-17), and now Anderson, whose tenure will end later this year.
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