A Few Words of Farewell to Our Dear Beth Franklin, Founding Member and Executive Director of Colorado Poets Center
In 2003, Beth Franklin and her late husband, poet Robert W. King, started the Colorado Poets Center as a literary hub for poets across Colorado. After the death of Bob in 2017, Beth, a professor emeritus at the University of Northern Colorado, took on the role of CPC Executive Director.
Her ensuing leadership of CPC has been one of steadfast passion and dedication, in honor of her husband. CPC now hosts over 300 Colorado poets. Its poetry reading and open mic at the Boulder Bookstore celebrates monthly the diverse and beautiful voices of our poets across the state. The Robert W. King Poetry awards for high school students is now a cornerstone of CPC. And the CPC quarterly newsletter serves as an important link for the sharing news of our Colorado poetry community.
Through CPC, Beth has personally supported so many Colorado poets in their endeavors across the state, including conference presentations, workshops, book interviews, and poetry celebrations, such as Colorado and Company’s recent highlight of Colorado’s new poet laureate, Crisosto Apache.
Though we will sorely miss Beth, we wish her all the best on her next adventures—Art, Europe, the World!! And we welcome our new CPC president, Nancy Viera and the ever-evolving CPC Board.
Beth has fostered a legacy of poetry the world needs more of. It is a joy to see her in the audience smiling big and supporting our local talent. I am grateful for the spaces Beth creates and extremely honored to follow her steps and keep the magic going.
—Nancy Viera, new president of Colorado Poets Center
Beth has been such a spirit, and a much-needed pragmatist, with the Colorado Poets Center. Her leadership has combined passion, generosity, community-mindedness, and solid managerial skills. It’s been a pleasure and an honor to work with her these past years and witness the growth of CPC and its community of poets under her tutelage.
—Kathryn Winograd, new vice-president of Colorado Poets Center
I knew the CPC founder, Bob King, but most of my interaction with CPC has been under Beth’s stewardship, and I’m truly full of gratitude for Beth’s generosity and sense of purpose. We all know the story that non-poets care nothing about poetry, and that poets are a crackerbox of cranks. All the more remarkable, then, that this small organization manages to recognize, educate, and champion poets across the state. Examine that apparent contradiction, and at the crux you’ll find Beth.
—Uchi Ogbuji, new secretary of Colorado Poets Center
*Beth has been an incredible cheerleader, promoter, wrangler, and champion of poets in Colorado, and always with a smile on her face. She shows us what just one person can do to uplift and nourish a community. She’s used her light to help other’s shine–what a gift she has been to Colorado, to poets, to me.
—Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer, CPC board member
