Austin Gets Its First Poet Laureate: Zell Miller III
By Shunya Carroll
Photography By Shunya Carroll
Reporting Texas
As he was inaugurated as Austin’s first poet laureate, Zell Miller III said last week that he will use the platform to promote literacy and tell the hard truths of the city’s history.
“I am gonna scribe the beauty of this city I grew up in,” Miller said during a ceremony at the Austin Public Library. “I’m holding up Austin in its beauty, its ugly and its opportunities and its closed doors.”
The Austin Public Library inaugurated Miller in a ceremony Monday, April 14 that included performances by Austin’s youth poet laureate, the Texas poet laureate and Austin poet KB Brookins, who championed the new position.
More than 40 Austinites applied for the position under review from a committee of 15 members active in the literary scene. Committee members include the Texas Book Festival, The Writers’ League of Texas and Austin the Economic Development Department.
Austin’s poet laureate will serve two-year terms to promote literacy, advance the Austin Public Library’s mission and celebrate poetry. The poet is required to work 10 hours per week, have 10 published works or performances and have lived in Austin for three years. The position pays an annual salary of $25,000 with a $10,000 budget for programming expenses — the highest honorarium of any Texas city poet laureate.
“With Austin being the only major Texas city without an adult poet Laureate, it only made sense to bring one to our community,” Austin City Council Member Vanessa Fuentes, sponsor of the proposal that created the position, told Reporting Texas. “Our city is known for its creative spirit, and I’m proud to champion an initiative that celebrates the voices that make Austin so unique.”
The Texas poet laureate program began with Judd Mortimer Lewis from Houston in 1932, five years before Joseph Auslander from Philadelphia became the first U.S. poet laureate. San Antonio became the first Texas city with a poet laureate position in 2012.
“Painting is poetry that is seen rather than felt, and poetry is painting that is felt rather than seen,” said Hannah Terrell, interim director of Austin libraries, quoting Leonardo DaVinci at the ceremony.
Brookins broke the formalities of a scripted ceremony and spoke hard truths with a lighthearted conviction in a way only a poet could do.
“You get to be the beauty that you are on the page.” Brookins said. Their performance of the poem “Hey Black Boy” inspired a standing ovation.
Brookins said unique perspectives and experiences drive poetry. The state’s many international airports and shipping ports have created a literary landscape of many international perspectives. Brookins said the city’s first poet laureate voicing Black perspectives was a step forward.
Miller is in the Austin Arts Hall of Fame, is a playwright and has performed his poetry in many Austin venues. He is a working artist and holds poetry workshops. He told KUT in March when the position was announced, that poetry is a great equalizer.
“I want to make sure that everybody is represented – every nook and cranny,” Miller said. “That includes our elder community that gets ignored; youth; and all of the beautiful races, creeds and colors that help to make the fabric of the beautiful city that we all love.”