Publication: Northwest Arkansas Times; Date:Apr 10, 2007; Section:News; Page Number:8
Mayor announces 2007 Poet Laureate: Clayton Scott
Northwest Arkansas Times
Fayetteville Mayor Dan Coody named Clayton Scott the next Poet Laureate of Fayetteville at a special ceremony Saturday night. Scott replaces current Poet Laureate Kirby Estes.
The Poet Laureate Selection and Advisory Committee reviewed the credentials of a number of local poets and presented their choice of Scott to Coody. Clayton is a magna cum laude honors graduate from Southwestern Oklahoma University with a bachelor’s degree in education and a language arts minor. He taught school in Oklahoma before becoming a television producer for a local and nationally syndicated TV talk show. He was an all-state actor in college, working as a comedian for more than 20 years after college.
Scott has served students in a variety of capacities for the last 25 years: teacher, youth minister, senior pastor, a student detention counselor and now as an arts educator. He has won poetry contests and awards and has been ranked in the top 10 percent of slam poets in the U.S. and Canada. Scott was the only one of that group from the South.
Scott serves as part of three Arkansas Arts Council programs: Arts on Tour, Arts in Education and as a Fellow for the A+ School Network.