Where poetry lives: Scott Owens named Hickory’s first poet laureate

Most afternoons, you can find poet Scott Owens at Taste Full Beans — the downtown Hickory coffeehouse he owns with his wife — pouring coffee, greeting regulars by name and swapping stories with the writers, students and neighbors who drift through the city’s most literary gathering place. An adjunct professor at Lenoir-Rhyne University for many years, Owens has guided hundreds of students on their own writing journeys. Some of those journeys have led to publication — like Gray Lee ’25, whose first chapbook debuted this fall — while others have simply led students to the joys of creative expression and the transformative power of poetry. As Hickory’s first poet laureate, Owens brings that same spirit of welcome, curiosity and mentorship to a citywide role, working to open more doors into poetry for people across Hickory and beyond.

Q: What does being named Hickory’s first poet laureate mean to you, and what do you hope to bring to the role?

I consider it a great honor. I’m a big fan of the city of Hickory and have even written a book of poems about the area. I’m excited to be a resource for anyone in Hickory who wants to do anything related to poetry. Academic coursework at LR or CVCC is one way to explore an interest in poetry, but that path requires an ongoing commitment of time and tuition. By making myself a resource, I hope to make poetry more accessible — through community and public-school workshops, Poetry Hickory and similar events, or even to people who just want to stop by and chat.

Q: What first drew you to poetry as a young person, and how has your relationship with it changed over time?

In second grade, my teacher was Ms. Shula at William Blake Elementary School in South Carolina. Her brother was Coach Don Shula of the Miami Dolphins, and he sent letters that she would read to the class, which gave me a window to the wider world. Those letters led me to expand my reading. Then I discovered Laura Ingalls Wilder, who showed me a world where people tried to be good and those who were bad faced consequences — it made me believe such a world was possible.

I started keeping a journal to process the events of my life. I didn’t think to transform my journal entries into poetry until I was around 17 and read some poems by Galway Kinnell; that was the tipping point for me. I had always loved language, so I wrote poetry that was very people-pleasing and conventional. Galway Kinnell showed me the possibilities in writing from an unvarnished perspective.

Q: You work and have published in multiple genres. What keeps pulling you back to poetry?

The way I perceive the world is like a poem, so when I go to write, it kind of automatically falls into a poem. I’m not sure when that started, but it’s been that way as long as I can remember. I’ll find myself experiencing a moment and paying attention. As details come into my vision, that shapes the way I describe and talk about the moment.

The other thing that appeals to me about poetry is that it inherently has a great deal of white space, which lets the reader step in and feel the poem is their own.

Q: Many students cite you as a major influence on their development as writers. What’s your approach to helping students discover and deepen their own voices?

To inspire students, I am very careful about judgment. I let them say what they need to say and find a way to express it as effectively as possible. At that point, it will either ignite them or it won’t, but most find their spark with poetry.

Not judging is key. In much of the educational system, creativity is measured against grades and rules, which often translates to “I’m judging you because you’re not doing it the way I do.” I work against that mindset, because I’ve spent my career resisting being put into a box — don’t let anyone put you in a box.

Q: If you could sit down with any poet, living or dead, who would it be and why?

There’s a lot of pressure with this question because you’re going to leave someone out. I’d start with Walt Whitman, who must have been brilliant to write with such freedom for his time — unprecedented and unrepeated. I’d also love to talk with Mary Oliver. Her wisdom and the calm sincerity in her writing are rare, and listening to her insights would be fascinating. And I’d come back to Galway Kinnell, whose poetry blends the personal and political in lines that almost read like speech. The Book of Nightmares is one of the most complicated and beautiful works I’ve ever read, and I’d love to hear him talk about how he wrote it.

Q: What’s your favorite punctuation mark, and why?

My favorite punctuation mark is the semicolon because it is the only one strong enough to hold two complete thoughts together without ending either one. And my favorite part of speech is the preposition. They exist only to bind things together, creating a relationship between what came before and what comes after. I feel drawn to the parts of language that make connections.