Aurora’s first poet laureate looks to define role for city

AURORA | Aurora’s very first poet laureate didn’t have much of a choice when it came to reading at his first slam session.

It was the early 2000s and Jovan Mays was still a student at Smoky Hill High School. He had accompanied his English teacher to a slam poetry reading at the Mercury Café in Denver, but he certainly hadn’t planned on reciting any of his own material for the crowd. Mays saw his own verses as social commentary; he framed them as straightforward observations about police brutality, teen violence, terrorism and other issues, but not as formal poems.

His teacher thought differently.

“He signed me up for the slam without me knowing,” Mays said. “That was kind of the starting point. I was still much more of an athlete.”

More than a decade later, Mays is no longer focused on football and wrestling. Poetry is Mays’ central focus, and his skill has earned him a historic role in his hometown.

Earlier this month, the Aurora City Council unanimously voted to name Mays the city’s first poet laureate, a position approved last year after an initial push by Aurora City Councilwoman Debi Hunter-Holen. For the next two years, Mays will serve as Aurora’s premier poet, working with local school districts and reading original work at formal events. In the new role, Mays will be the city’s creative ambassador, representing his hometown through verse.

Poet laureate programs are a common cultural feature in Denver and other big cities, but the initiative is a big step for Aurora. Mays sees the position as a promising move in the right direction for a city of more than 300,000, especially as local arts organizations like the Aurora Symphony Orchestra struggle for funding and the Aurora Cultural Arts District is still looking to attract new artists, patrons and businesses. Mays hopes his new role will set important priorities when it comes to art and culture.

“First of all, the city appointing a poet laureate means that they’re serious about integrating poetry,” said Mays, who sees his position as Aurora’s premier poet as an extension of his role as a community organizer and teacher. “I’m always looking for access to larger groups of people. I feel like this role is something that’s very tangible.”

That hopeful attitude stems in part from the enthusiastic response of city officials to Mays’ verses. Mays read his poem “Borealis” during a city council meeting earlier this month, and reaction to his descriptions of city scenes and city residents was overwhelmingly positive.

“He had a huge body of work, and it is full of passion and enthusiasm for life. He is extremely articulate, uses words like a paintbrush,” said Patti Bateman, the city’s director of Library and Cultural Services. Bateman was one of the officials charged with selecting the first poet laureate. “He was the standout … He managed to bring tears to council’s eyes.”

That emotional response came from the vivid descriptions of the city featured in “Borealis”: “The Borealis is a mixture of colors filled with mystery, beauty and illusion/No one knows how they come together in such harmony/Like an army of flamingoed monarch butterflies armed with lilacs/Or better yet like hundreds of languages and cultures sharing the sunrise.”

That brand of poetry wasn’t Mays’ main focus when he was a Smoky Hill High School student playing football and wrestling. It wasn’t high on the radar when he started taking classes at Chadron State College in northwest Nebraska.

By the time he graduated in 2010, however, Mays had suffered an injury that halted his athletic career. He’d had time to rethink his priorities, to consider how he could turn his skill for the written word into a permanent part of his life. That’s part of what he wants to convey to young poets in his new role as the city’s top wordsmith.

“I don’t feel like I’m teaching a style or a genre. I feel like I’m teaching a tool,” Mays said. “Aurora allows you to really get a nice tie-dyed experience. You’re around all of these different races, but you’re also around all of these different classes.

“It creates an environment where brave poetry can be bred and fostered,” he added.