Notable & Quotable
Alumna named Poet Laureate
Art lives in the home of Carolyn Kreiter-Foronda ’69. It lives on the walls, in the garden, on the bookcases and in her head.
Kreiter-Foronda, 59, is Virginia’s new Poet Laureate. What that means is she now has a prestigious title as she continues pursuing her passion – writing poetry and sharing its virtues with others. It also means that for the immediate future, she may spend less time on her painting and sculpture work.
“One art never seemed enough to satisfy my need for creativity,” Kreiter-Foronda wrote in the introduction to one of her five books of poetry. As a child, growing up in the Richmond area, she aspired to be a concert pianist. Then her primary interest shifted to horseback riding, and she even wrote a novel about horses.
“All I ever wanted to do was teach and be an educator,” said Kreiter-Foronda, who majored in English at Mary Washington. “I was always a closet writer.” Her writing eventually tumbled out of the closet and onto the pages of books. Her first poems were published while she was in graduate school.
With the doctorate of arts in education she earned from George Mason University in 1983, Kreiter-Foronda became the first doctoral recipient in GMU’s history.
Kreiter-Foronda spent 31 years as an educator in Fairfax County Public Schools – a classroom teacher, English specialist, and writing resource coordinator. “Throughout my entire teaching career, I have used poetry,” she said. “It is the most intricate art form I’ve ever experienced.”
Five years ago, at the request of the Poetry Society of Virginia, Kreiter-Foronda established a Poetry-in-the-Schools Program to promote poetry from kindergarten through college. Specifically, the program uses poetry to foster both critical and creative thinking skills in the classroom and to ensure that these efforts are consistent with statewide SOL objectives. Also, Poetry-in-the-Schools promotes student poetry competitions.
“When I get out there in the classroom, I knowI make a difference,” she said. Former students often say to Kreiter-Foronda: “You taught me to love poetry.” That warms her heart.
Despite her love of classroom teaching, she reached a point where she would rather “be writing a poem than grading one.” Also, nature beckoned. She and her husband, Patricio, jumped at the chance to abandon urban sprawl and relocate to a pristine piece of property on Virginia’s Middle Peninsula. They built a house in an isolated area amid raccoons, hummingbirds, and other “raw material” for Kreiter-Foronda’s poems and paintings.
She is working now on her sixth book of poetry, this one to be called River Country. Her paintings appear on the covers of her books.
Her Hardyville home is the launching point for the new poet laureate’s frequent forays into all parts of Virginia; her license plate reads “VA POET.” Following in the footsteps of previous poet laureates, such as Rita Dove, Kreiter-Foronda speaks to school groups and civic organizations. She leads workshops and serves as a consultant. The topic is always the same: the power of poetry.
Kreiter-Foronda, who was appointed to the two-year honorary post by Gov. Tim Kaine, said, “This appointment acknowledges that what we do as artists matters.”
– Anna Barron Billingsley
UMW Presents Poetry Prize
With Carolyn Kreiter-Foronda’s help, the University of Mary Washington now offers an annual College Prize in poetry. Last year, the Poetry Society of Virginia sent a $2,500 check to the Academy of American Poets to endow the UMW prize in perpetuity. Claudia Emerson, UMW English professor and Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, serves as administrator of the prize.
The inaugural winner was Kai Crow-Getty ’06. Honorable mentions went to Sarrina Wood ’06, Megan Ronan ’07, and Tyler Babbie ’08.