News Release
FRANCINE RINGOLD REAPPOINTED AS STATE POET LAUREATE
April 20, 2005
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Ann Dee Lee
Public Information Director
Oklahoma Arts Council
(405) 521-2931
Governor Brad Henry has appointed Tulsan Francine Ringold to serve her second term as Oklahoma Poet Laureate.
“It is my pleasure to reappoint Dr. Ringold as Oklahoma Poet Laureate. Our state has a long and distinguished tradition in the arts. Oklahoma is well-represented by Dr. Ringold, a truly gifted poet who has worked hard to advance poetry in our state,” said Gov. Henry.
Dr. Ringold is Editor in Chief of Nimrod, the International Journal of Prose and Poetry, a position she has held for the past 39 years. She recently retired from teaching in the English and Theatre departments at the University of Tulsa and has taught at the Oklahoma School of the Deaf, at the Tulsa Center for the Physically Limited, and in the Oklahoma State Arts in Education and Artist in Schools programs. In 2003, she was awarded the “Writers Who Make a Difference” award from the nationally distributed Writers magazine.
Her poetry has been published in several journals and was the winner of the Oklahoma Book Award for The Trouble with Voices, 1996, and Still Dancing, 2005. Along with her professional accomplishments, Dr. Ringold has brought poetry to the community through presentations, workshops and “Sestina Challenge,” writing and producing literary radio programs, organizing events for National Poetry month and organizing the annual Nimrod/Hardman Writing Weekend in October of each the last 26 years.
“Surely, to be appointed Poet Laureate is an honor but it is most of all a responsibility and a challenge,” Dr. Ringold said. “It affords me the opportunity to do something good for poetry and people, to make people aware of the importance of making their own mark and of reading the stories of others whether in poetry or prose.”
“Dr. Ringold is an outstanding poet whose work continues to enrich people of all ages. Our state has boasted artists of amazing creativity, skill and insight. Dr. Ringold is an outstanding example of such traits," said James Tolbert III, Chair of the Oklahoma Arts Council.
The Oklahoma Poet Laureate Program, coordinated by the Oklahoma Arts Council, is designed to honor outstanding Oklahoma poets and promote participation in the literary arts of the state.
The Oklahoma Arts Council is a state agency whose mission is to improve lives through the arts by promoting and sustaining the development of a thriving arts environment, which is essential to quality of life, education and economic vitality for all Oklahomans.