‘I Tend to Write in Pursuit of That Surprise’: Cornell Senior Visiting Lecturer Dan Rosenberg Named Tompkins County Poet Laureate
On Feb. 19, Cornell Senior Visiting Lecturer Dan Rosenberg, English, was named Tompkins County’s 12th Poet Laureate, a role created to honor local outstanding poets and bring poetry beyond the page and into public life.
Rosenberg, who has published six works as a poet and currently teaches creative writing at Cornell University, spoke about the importance of poetry and expressed gratitude for the recognition in an interview with The Sun.
“The point of [poetry] is to build a community around it and to share that work with people for whom it will matter,” Rosenberg said. “Being named the poet laureate for the county feels like a recognition of that work and that set of values and the desire to support it, which is very moving.”
Rosenberg was appointed as Poet Laureate, a two-year position, in a collaborative decision made by the Community Arts Partnership and the Tompkins County Legislature.
Susan Currie, the Tompkins County legislative member who served on the search committee for the next poet laureate, explained the function and importance of the role.
“The position of Tompkins County Poet Laureate was established by the Tompkins County Legislature in 2001 to honor local outstanding poets, integrate poetry into the community, enrich the education of our young people, and enhance the county’s position as a cultural center,” Currie wrote in an email to The Sun.
Rosenberg expressed appreciation toward the county for recognizing the importance of poetry.
“Not every county has a poet laureate, and I think it speaks to the values and identity of our county that they’ve decided to support such a role,” Rosenberg said.
Rosenberg explained that the work involved with being poet laureate varies, and “is an evolving question.”
“There have been many other poet laureates before me,” Rosenberg said. “They’ve each sort of approached this task, or this role with a different perspective.”
Rosenberg noted that he will focus on bringing more poetry-related events and programming beyond Ithaca, reaching the entirety of Tompkins County.
“I’m trying to work through right now what events I can organize, how I can bring poetry into the public consciousness in a supportive and welcoming and generous way all around the county,” Rosenberg said. “I have always understood myself, as a poet, as someone who would also organize events and try to bring people together around poetry and literature in general.”
Rosenberg stated he was “wide open to partners,” and looking forward to hearing any ideas from community members.
“Part of the fun of this sort of role is when you get to work with other folks,” he added.
Executive Director of the Community Arts Partnership, Megan Barber, echoed the importance of community building and service in a written statement on their website.
“We received nominations for nine outstanding local poets, each with unique ideas about how to put poetry in service to the community,” her comment read. “We are so excited about Dan’s appointment.”
Before beginning at Cornell this fall, Rosenberg served as the English department chair at Wells College, which closed last spring. During his decade of teaching at Wells, he focused on creating community and offering various perspectives on writing. He organized events such as the Wells College Visiting Writers Series, which brought various writers to campus, allowing students to be exposed to broader perspectives in writing.
In his role at Cornell, Rosenberg said he was particularly excited about helping students discover their love for writing and poetry, and he mentioned that a student from his first semester class recently had poems she wrote for his class published in a national magazine for the first time.
“I’m excited to share my work, of course, that’s great,” Rosenberg said. “But I’m really more excited to lift other people up and make sure that whatever small platform I can help them reach, they can reach.”
Rosenberg spoke about his love for poetry — explaining that the “surprise” of poetry has always drawn him to the genre.
“I get most excited when a poem surprises me — even my own — and so I tend to write in pursuit of that surprise,” Rosenberg said.