Poetry and more at Barton College

Monday night's audience at Barton College's Ragan Writing Center was not large — less than 50 (but I didn't take a head count). But it was a rainy night, and the topic was poetry, a spectacle not likely to fill a stadium.

The Emerging Writers Series, sponsored by Wilson residents Dr. and Mrs. William Batchelor, brought in Catherine Carter and Dan Albergotti, two "emerging" poets with North Carolina ties. Carter teaches at Western Carolina, and Albergotti earned one of his degrees at UNC-Greensboro. The two presented a contrast in poetic styles, Carter more whimsical and humorous, Albergotti more serious and provocative. My wife and I were there primarily to see Albergotti, who was in UNC-G's MFA program with my son and daughter-in-law. They had given me an autographed copy of Albergotti's book "The Boatloads" as a Father's Day gift (or was it birthday?) last year. As a college freshman, I marveled at the concept I had discovered in the college catalog, that writing poetry could be taught. I had assumed that poetry had to be inspired purely by a muse. I ended up taking that course on poetry writing, as well as a couple on fiction writing, but never managed to produce marketable works of poetry or fiction. I did manage to make a living as a writer for 35 years. When Fred Chappell, former state poet laureate and director of the creative writing program at UNC-G, spoke at Barton a few years ago, he joked about the poverty and humility that attends to being a poet.

I've retained an interest in poetry all these years, even as I edited thousands of clearly un-poetic newspaper articles. When my son was learning creative writing, he introduced me to a fine volume of poetry by Ron Rash, "Eureka Mill," with painfully evocative poems set in an old textile mill much like the mill village where my parents grew up, and to writers such as Michael McFee, who also spoke at Barton a few years ago.

Poetry won't fill a stadium, but it clearly has its fans, as Barton's Emerging Writers Series has shown. Poets regularly fill the room in the college's Writing Center. Monday's event emphasizes the inherent value of a liberal arts college. A college raises the threshold of art and culture in the community. Wilson would be a lesser city without Barton's highly educated faculty; its attraction of artists and writers who speak, exhibit and inspire; its lecture series such as the Sprinkle Lectures on religion or the Emerging Writers Series; its symphony orchestra and its theatrical performances, such as last week's "Violet," a musical based on the Doris Betts short story, "The Ugliest Pilgrim"; and even its athletic teams. Barton deserves the support of all Wilsonians who care about the quality of life in this community.