National Society of Arts and Letters Enjoyed Talk With Dr. MeinkeOn the March 10th, St. Petersburg's first Poet Laureate, Peter Meinke, spoke to members and guests at the NSAL luncheon held at the Belleair County. Dr. Meinke is a published author of books of poetry, travel articles, book reviews, and children's books. After teaching high school English he received his M.A. from University of Michigan in Literature; then taught at the Hamlin University before receiving his Ph.D. at the University of Minnesota. Moving to St. Petersburg, he taught at Florida Presbyterian, now Eckerd College, where he has been teaching and directing writing workshops for over twenty years. He received Robert A. Staub Distinguished Teachers Awards, been appointed a Founding Member of the Zeta Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, and had conferred on him the Degree of Doctor of Humane Letters. In 2008 Eckerd College established the Peter Meinke Endowed Chair in Creative writing. Mr. Meinke stated that many writers of note started out as poets - Hemingway and Faulkner to name but two - and Howard Raines, editor of the St. Petersburg Times, who went onto became the editor of the New York Times. We are what we read, that writing is an act of affirmation of our local habitation and our being. He stated that poetry expresses feelings, and needs the sense of the narrative; that fiction may be more understandable to the reader, but does not express feelings. Dr. Meinke read one of his published works that starts as a poem but ends in prose, he says, for just the above reason, to express feelings and story. After a Q and A session Dr. Meinke was thanked and presented a plaque by President Sue Bowles. The National Society of Arts and Letters competition this year is in the category of Literature, specifically Short Story Writing with local and national monetary awards. Dr. Meinke is an acting judge for this competition. Winners will be announced soon.
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