Mery Noel Smith has begun her third year as Spokane’s poet laureate. She’s the bard of the Spokane poetry scene.
This interview has been lightly edited for clarity and length.
Mery Noel Smith: A lot of poet laureate for me has been just a service position. I’m trying to raise awareness and advocate for the arts in places and for people who don’t necessarily have access to equitable access to art and community, especially poetry, because it’s been a little bit of like an elitist sort of boutique kind of feeling. It’s like a cool little boutique downtown that only certain people were going to and now I think that’s been changing for, you know, before my term, but I certainly have been making a dent in it since I got here…