The poet laureate of Rockford has completed over half of her term. WNIJ’s Yvonne Boose found out how the position is changing her relationship with poetry.
Jenna Goldsmith said she was disappointed when she learned that she had to take a poetry class in college.
“I had this kind of overinflated response,” she said. “And there was some crying involved in a in a stairwell that will go, you know, untalked about here. But yeah, I was a reluctant poetry writer and I think it was because the poetry I had encounter up to that time in my life, didn't really reach me.”
Which seems a bit funny, coming from Rockford’s poet laureate. Goldsmith said she wrote in high school, but not poetry. She went to Rock Valley College to study journalism but said working as a journalist gave her anxiety. She went on to Illinois State University and switched her focus to creative writing. That’s where she took that poetry class that catapulted her into her calling.
She credits its professor for changing her relationship with the craft.
"He started reading from a book. Just kind of walked into the room started reading from a book," she said. "And I was really captivated and touched by it. And therein began my — at least my poetry writing life."
And it didn’t stop with that class. She went on to get doctoral degree with an emphasis on poetry from University of Kentucky in Lexington.
“What I think the degree enabled me to do, at its core, is to just have such a vast knowledge of poetry," she said. "Because I was afforded so much time to study it. And so, I have a really encyclopedic knowledge of poetry.”
She said that six-year experience allowed her to bask in the state’s, quote, “writerly community and literary community and literary history.”
After that Goldsmith moved to Bloomington, Illinois for a year and then came back home to Rockford. She started teaching at Rockford University. The city was looking for its next poet laureate, someone to replace the inaugural laureate, Christine Swanberg. Goldsmith said her mom pointed out the Facebook post about the search.
“I looked at the criteria for, you know, for the role, and I thought, 'oh, gosh, I'm not qualified for this at all," she recalled. "And I didn't plan on applying and she was like, you should do it, just do it, you know, you never know.”
Goldsmith was appointed as Rockford’s second poet laureate in 2023. She has been busy ever since. She’s read poetry for the YMCA yearly gala, the Rockford Symphony Orchestra, Rockford’s first pride parade and many other occasions.
She said she wants to be a good ambassador for poetry, but she said this could be a lot of pressure.
“Because it's not like everybody's favorite thing to talk about," she added. "But I think that Rockford has, there is a renaissance going on around poetry, Chris was right. And it seems like people are kind of clamoring for it right now.”
She was referring to Christopher D. Sims. A Rockford poet who has pointed out that the city is infusing poetry into many events.
Goldsmith said being in this position motivates her to write because she must. She is commissioned to create a lot of poems.
“And so, you know, any poet will tell you that any extra motivation to write is well received," she explained, "because you don't always want to write even though you love it, it's still hard. So, there's always a lot of good voiding writing that's also going on, but the poet laureate position, again if you want, it can be highly motivating.”
Goldsmith is working on her first full length manuscript. She already has four chapbooks. She is also working on a project with other poets.
Goldsmith has just over six months left in the position. She will continue to write on demand.
"But I'm also just really inspired you know; I meet all kinds of people through this role," she said. "I meet artists and I meet activists and, you know, I meet businesspeople and public servants and all of those meetings are deeply inspiring to me."
She said poetry is for everyone. And she said the more literary experiences she can offer in Rockford the more comfortable people will be with picking up a poetry book or attending a poetry event.
Catch the full interview this week in the next episode of the Poetically Yours Extended Podcast.
