Maria Luisa Arroyo

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Springfield’s First Poet Laureate—
—By Magdalena Gómez—

Earlier this year I met with City Councilor Tim Rooke at his kind invitation. He has been a supporter of Teatro V!da since our early days, often working beside us as a hands-on volunteer, lugging equipment, and generally offering his services for the grunt work whenever needed. He has done this without fanfare or need for recognition. One of the things we discussed at our meeting was the idea of Springfield having a Poet Laureate. I had brought this idea to other community leaders in the past, but Councilor Rooke is the one who took it seriously. Poets play significant roles in the health, education, unity and literacy of the populace. Poets of social conscience can inspire, encourage and mobilize large numbers of people. Langston Hughes, Otto Rene Castillo, and Lola Rodriguez de Tió come to mind.
Councilor Rooke began to mobilize the process with support from Kelley Mickiewicz, an administrative aide at City Hall. Thanks to their collective effort, Springfield now has a Poet Laureate Ordinance in perpetuity and our history-making first Poet Laureate is community leader, educator and activist, María Luisa Arroyo.
Arroyo was Poet-in-Residence with Teatro V!da from 2007-2012, inspiring our members and audiences with her writing and creative mentoring. Arroyo attended Springfield Public Schools (SPS) during a time when the arts were valued as an integral part of a well-rounded education by SPS. Arroyo is a stellar example of the impact of the arts in a child’s life. A single mother, Arroyo graduated with honors and put herself through Colby, Tufts and ABD (all but dissertation) at Harvard. As of this writing she is also acquiring a Master of Fine Arts. In addition to her formidable intelligence and skills as a poet, scholar and educator, Arroyo is a multi-linguist with fluency in German, Farsi, Spanish, English and a working knowledge of Russian and Hebrew.
On October 24, 2009, Teatro V!da staged Arroyo’s poem, I Grew Up in the North End. I recall Timothy Rooke running out to buy more coolers and ice for our refreshments, as our guests were more than we had anticipated. Following the performance at Chestnut Middle School, when I declared that María Luisa is The People’s Poet, the crowd of over 300 people roared in agreement. As I read the Proclamation created in her honor on September 29, 2014, I could feel everyone in the City Council Chambers hold their breath at the staggering list of Arroyo’s accomplishments. The crowd was smaller, but the roar just as great.  Springfield is very proud.  ■

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