The city of Athens has appointed Alison Stine to serve as its first poet laureate.
Toward the end of her doctoral program in English at Ohio University, Alison Stine had to make a tough decision — where to raise her son. But she could think of no better place than the city of Athens.
"From the very beginning, the people of Athens, some of them complete strangers, have helped me: from bringing over homemade food when my son was an infant, to giving him a bike and teaching him how to ride," Stine said in an email. "The people of Athens took care of me and my son, and became our family."
And now Stine, who is now primarily a writer, is poised to give back to her Athens family after being appointed the city of Athens' first poet laureate. She took office Jan. 1 and will serve until Dec. 31, 2017.
A poet laureate is an honorary position for a poet to serve as an advocate for the arts and foster a love of poetry and literature among the residents he or she serves, according to the city of Athens' website.
"The value of art is understood here, as is the value of hard work: making things with your hands, making things that matter and last," Stine said in the email. "At the same time, there is poverty and hardship here, both for the land and for many of its people, and that is a story that should be told too: that we struggle, but we’re very, very strong and resourceful."
Stine is one of three people who applied for the position, Carol Patterson said, and she will be compensated $2,000 per year during her two-year term.
Patterson, chair of the Athens Municipal Arts Commission, also served on the subcommittee of the arts commission that selected Stine.
The committee began searching for applicants in November 2014 and made a decision before Thanksgiving Day 2015, Patterson said.
At the Jan. 4 Athens City Council meeting where Stine was officially appointed, Patterson spoke highly of Stine, calling her "multi-artistic" and "a wonderful advocate for Athens," according to a previous Post report.
Members of city council voiced their support for the decision, and President of City Council Chris Knisley said the appointment of a poet laureate sets the city in a "leadership position for supporting cultural arts endeavors."
"It sets us out as an example for what arts can do for quality of life in a community," Knisley said.
Patterson also spoke of arts development in Athens. She said finding a poet laureate is one of many steps being taken to recognize performance art in the community.
One of Stine's responsibilities in her new position will be to "present original works of poetry at a minimum of two official city events during the tenure, and at least once in a school or educational setting involving children," according to the city's requirements for the position.
Stine said her first project will be titled Words like water, and it is meant to draw attention to poetry, Athens and the urgency to protect our local resources.
"Two key components are a reading at the community pool and a new public art mural incorporating poetry," Stine said in the email. "I'll be focusing on environmental poetry."
Patterson also said Athens is the first city in Ohio to appoint a poet laureate. Coincidentally, the state of Ohio has just appointed its first poet laureate, Amit Majmudar, who is a graduate of the University of Akron and the Northeast Ohio Medical University. He lives in Dublin and works as a diagnostic nuclear radiologist in Columbus.
Stine said she is looking forward to meeting Majmudar in April when they will appear at the Ohioana Book Festival.
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