Calling all poets!

You just don’t see a lot of classified ads saying “poets wanted.”But if you’re versatile with verse, you could find yourself in great demand.

The Pikes Peak Poet Laureate project has a couple of significant opportunities for wordsmiths to ply their craft.

One is the 2010 edition of “Poetry While You Wait,” a collection of poems that will be distributed to local dentists’ and doctors’ offices, auto repair shops, beauty salons, hospitals, etc., throughout the Pikes Peak region.

You can submit up to four poems, each 30 lines or fewer, along with a one-line bio to poet@pikespeakpoet
laureate.org. Those who have their poems chosen get free copies of the book.

But wait, there’s more.

The group also is seeking a new poet laureate to take over for Aaron Anstett, the first poet in our region to hold that title, who ends his two-year term in April.

“It’s been fun,” Anstett said. “It was great to have an opportunity to promote local writers.”

As the region’s official poet laureate, Anstett was asked to do six to 10 public appearances. He’s done more than 65, reading poetry at elementary school rooms, City Council meetings, bar association parties.

But it’s the “Poetry While You Wait” project he spearheaded that he thinks will be his most significant legacy.

“That whole project was really terrific, from reading the vast number of submissions that came in to holding the book in hand to the aftermath and hearing people say they read poems at the Colorado Springs Airport or a waiting room,” he said.

Those interested in trying to take over Anstett’s gig, which pays $2,000 a year and lasts two years, should send résumés, five sample poems, references and their visions for the position.

Deadline is March 10. The inauguration ceremony is set for 4:30 p.m. April 24 at Penrose Library.

For details and an application, go to pikespeakpoetlaureate.org.