Lauren Clifford is Newtown’s newest poet laureate. She was formally appointed during the July 15 Board of Selectmen meeting.

It was during a performance she gave at First Selectman Jeff Capeci’s swearing in ceremony, when she read “Mirror Images," about the history of Newtown, that Clifford caught the ear of Newtown Cultural Arts Commission Chair Laura Lerman.

“She had initiated contact with the first selectman to do the poem, which is one of the most important things. You can write poetry all your life, but if you’re not willing to put yourself out and to search … that’s the only way poems are going to get done,” Lerman said.

Clifford’s first time dipping into the world of performance poetry was just a few years ago. In 2022, she felt inspired by the Palace Theater in Waterbury celebrating their 100th anniversary. She wrote 100 lines in iambic pentameter, or classic Shakespeare meter, about the history of the theater.

“I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I had no idea the Palace was 100 years old!’ I’ve been going a long time … Let me find out some of the history. So as I was going through the history, I’m like, ‘Wow, this is a really cool piece of Connecticut history,’” Clifford explained. She titled the poem “The Best Seat in the House.”

She said writing in iambic pentameter helps her remember the lines so she does not have to keep her head buried down in her papers while she is performing. Another great example of her 100-lined, iambic pentameter poem abilities is the centennial poem she crafted for Connecticut's Zoo in Bridgeport titled “Calls of the Wild.”

In that poem, Clifford went beyond history and added narrative to the stanzas. In both pieces, Clifford created characters and story lines that added intrigue into the history of the landmark spaces. Adding these characters recontextualizes the culminating events that led to the longevity of the Palace Theater and Connecticut's Beardsley Zoo.

“Frankly, being first selectman can be very boring,” Lerman said. “[Clifford] was able to put a vibrancy in it that you just very rarely see. She had the energy to inaugurate saying, ‘Hey do you want a poem?’ And that’s hard.”

Lerman is thrilled to have a new poet laureate in Newtown. Clifford is the second person to hold the position.

Lisa Schwartz was appointed the first Poet Laureate of Newtown in 2015, soon after the volunteer post was created by the Board of Selectmen.

Among the duties of the honorary position are to serve as an ambassador in the greater arts community; to foster public appreciation of and participation in poetry and literary arts; to be present for at least one public event per year as requested by the Newtown Board of Selectmen and/or NCAC; and to serve as an auxiliary member of NCAC.

Schwartz served one full three year term, and one partial term. She resigned her position in September 2020 ahead of a move out of the area.

When Newtown appointed its first Poet Laureate in 2015, there were eight poets laureate in the state. Now there are 46, all part of the Connecticut Coalition of Poets Laureate. The current State Poet Laureate is Antoinette Brim-Bell of West Haven.

Lerman says the fact Newtown has a poet laureate “says a lot about Newtown.

"The fact that the first selectman is willing to work with the poet laureate says a lot about Newtown,” she added.

Clifford’s Eyes On The Future

Lauren Clifford is “ecstatic” and “elated” to step into her new role as Newtown’s poet laureate. She cannot wait, she told The Newtown Bee, to start working more with the residents in town.

“I hope to work with the children of Newtown as well,” she said, “maybe host some workshops for them, show them you can do acrostic [poems]. Simple poems that even they can write to start out with.”

Clifford is hoping to have a strong online presence in her laureateship. Her goal is to share poetry in an online forum as well as in person.

“I’d love to get some poetry readings where people can come and read their own poetry or theme nights where it’s poetry just about maybe sports!” she said.

She wants to help people in town recognize that poetry, above all else, is relatable. Clifford herself does not have an extensive educational background in poetry. She went to college for finance but always appreciated poetry.

“[Poetry] has been a hobby of mine. I journal a lot, and I’ve written a lot of poetry, but only in the last few years have I really presented it to someone outside my family,” she shared.

Clifford is ready to demonstrate to Newtown that the role of a poet laureate is to “show [residents] where to find poems that would relate to them … it’s finding something that’s relevant and relatable and being able to extract meaning on a personal level.”

Read one of Clifford's poems here.

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Reporter Sam Cross can be reached at sam@thebee.com.