Meet Northfield's new poet laureate

Although he’s only published a handful of poems, Northfield’s new Poet Laureate Russel Boyington has lot of ideas.

Those ideas included holding poetry readings in many of Northfield’s 35 parks, holding a poetry writing event with a seasonal and/or holiday theme, holding an Open Mic poetry event for children, and staging a city-wide poetry contest using climate change as the thematic prompt.

Boyington, who writes under the pen name Russ Pallatin, began his three year post as PoLo earlier this spring.

On June 12, he hosted the monthly Poetry Open Mic Night in the Northfield Public Library atrium, his first official assignment.

“Thank you all so much for the terrific welcome I have received,” he wrote in the June Northfield Poetry newsletter. He also gave shout out to Becky Boling, Doug Green and the first city poet laureate Rob Hardy “for their generous time, help and support.”

A Faribault native, Boyington moved to Northfield in 2014 after working a series of jobs that included bartending, data entry, school cafeteria worker and dog kennel employee. Despite being passed over for the city’s sidewalk poetry project, Boyington said he has continued to take his poetry writing seriously. “My goal is to be seen and read as a poet.”

When Boyington isn’t writing poetry, playing the piano or crafting his pen and ink drawings, he is working with area youth. For the last year, he has worked part time as an After School Care Supervisor for the K-5 Ventures program at Prairie Creek Community School in Castle Rock. For more than four years, he’s also been the theater director for the Northfield Middle School.

Theatrical roots

Last October, Boyington created and directed a production for the Northfield Arts Guild LAB Theater titled “Of Course There are Ghosts.” He said he adapted three classic horror stories for the stage including a “Notebook Found on a Deserted Farm” by Robert Block; “Housing Problem” by Henry Kuttner; and “Oh, Whistle and I’ll Come to You my Lad” by M.R. James.

The LAB series is dedicated to experimenting and supporting theater arts, offering opportunities, widening participation, and welcoming others. LAB both encourages new theater artists and advances seasoned theater artists to develop and sharpen skills. Boyington said he wants to emphasize to the youth he works with that creativity comes in all forms; arts are not exclusive.

“If I have a platform of any kind it would be to call attention to kids that they can do this, whether it’s poetry, art or theater,” he explained. “Kids can do this and they can try that. We can only coax them, not thrust them into it.”

Boyington said the modern poets whose writings have greatly influenced and impacted him are ee cummings and Edgar Allen Poe.

“I like people to feel that the arts have broadened them,” he said. “I don’t want anyone to be afraid of writing poetry.”

Just The Facts Open Mic Poetry events at the Northfield Public LibrarAtrium are slated for the second Wednesday of each month at 6:30-7:30 p.m. The events are open to all local poets and poetry lovers. Future dates are July 10, August 14, September 11 and October 9. f2be6820-1b6e-482a-88ce-1dc2c2782ac2