Saturday, September 6th was a delicious afternoon down in Hutchinson as poets gathered at the Kansas State Fair to read poems about Kansas foods.
The event was to help celebrate the book Eat Your Words: A Kansas Poetry Cookbook, which collected 20 recipes from chefs across the State of Kansas and 20 poems in response to those meals.
Kansas Poet Laureate emeritus, Wyatt Townley, read poems for the avocado and also about space; K-State English alum Dennis Etzel Jr. (MA ’06) read a poem about sage and also his time working at McDonalds; poet and performer Wanderer read about a fettuccini bolognese and an ars poetica; and Lawrence poet and educator Melissa Fite Johnson read a poem about a recipe for Beef Bourguignon in the cookbook that was provided by Manhattan’s own Ben Motley of Arrow Cocktail Lounge.
As current Poet Laureate, I read other poems from the cookbook about gardens and baked goods, and in between readings hosted trivia and gave away local Kansas foods from Wamego’s SHoney’s honey and granola and popcorn from TOAST in Pittsburg.
Twenty posters of poems celebrating Kansas foods, landscape, and history are placed around the State Fair and can be found tucked away next to art and agricultural exhibits until the last day of the Fair on September 14.
They are also archived online at https://www.kansascommerce.gov/program/poet-laureate/state-fair-poems/.
— Traci Brimhall, University Distinguished Professor / Poet Laureate of Kansas (Photos courtesy of Dennis Etzel, Jr.)
K-State English 