The state of Missouri has never had an official poet laureate. Like many people, I didn’t know that, although unlike many of those many people, I should have. One of the hats I wear is as the president of the Missouri Center for the Book.
What, you may ask, is the Missouri Center for the Book and what, furthermore, does it have to do with state poets laureate?
I’m so glad you asked. The Missouri Center for the Book (hereafter known as MCB) is the state affiliate to the Library of Congress Center for the Book. All 50 states have such an institution now, and we are all as different in our structure and specific goals as those states. …