What Kansas poet laureate Traci Brimhall sees in Taylor Swift's 'Tortured Poets Department'

Fans of poetry are getting a boost with the arrival of Taylor Swift's latest album "The Tortured Poets Department."

It dropped at midnight Thursday, aptly timed for mid-April, which is National Poetry Month.

Traci Brimhall, poet laureate of Kansas, said she doesn't think the drop date was an accident.

"I think that's totally intentional," said Brimhall, who is eager to explore the album's lyrics with her students at Kansas State University.

Brimhall was named the state's poet laureate for 2023-2026. Some of her collective works include "Come the Slumberless to the Land of Nod," "Saudade" and "Our Lady of the Ruins." She is also a distinguished professor of English at K-State.

Taylor Swift's newest album pays tribute to another art form

Swift announced the release of her newest album "The Tortured Poets Department" at this year's Grammy Awards. She made the announcement while accepting her award for best pop vocal album.

"The Tortured Poets Department" marks Swift's 11th studio album and features 16 songs. Two hours after the album dropped, Swift released a second volume subtitled "The Anthology," which contained an additional 15 songs.

Brimhall was intrigued by the name of the album.

"I'm just excited anytime poetry shows up in media, because I adore that art form," she said. "But one of the things I thought was really interesting about 'The Tortured Poet Department' is just that I think we tend to think of the first two words together, tortured poets, and it make sense, right. We think about poets as wearing their black turtlenecks and berets and writing their poems in coffee shops.

"But we don't think about them as a department, and I think it's really kind of funny thinking about it. I don't think she means it, but I think there's something really surprising and interesting in thinking about it as a department and being tortured by all of the emails that people have to go through. But I just think as a collective noun, department is kind of funny or interesting as a collective noun or a group of poets."

Next generation of writers inspired by Taylor Swift and other pop stars

Brimhall said the next generation of writers have shown interest in poetry through the lyricism of such pop stars as Swift.

"I think that I enjoy that people are passionate about Taylor Swift," Brimhall said. "Swifties know everything about every lyric and every boyfriend that every song is about. That's wonderful, and it is a wonderful way to enjoy her music."

Being a "Swiftie" who deeply analyzes Swift's lyrics and videos isn't a requirement to enjoy her poetic license.

"I also think it's totally fine if I sing off-key and dance in my car and don't know all the lyrics backwards and forwards and all of the details," Brimhall said. "I think you don't to be an expert to enjoy Taylor Swift. They can just enjoy music. But unfortunately, I think poetry has a reputation where you have to be an expert in poetry or literary analysis to enjoy a poem."

Brimhall said anyone can enjoy poetry and music even in its most simplistic forms.

"I think if somebody wants to dive in and really examine every word, that's lovely and wonderful," she said. "What a rich way to enjoy it. But also you can just read a poem and enjoy a poem, and that's plenty. That's enough, and you don't have to dissect it all."

Instagram and TikTok are among social media apps showcasing poetry

Brimhall said it has been interesting seeing how the younger generation approaches poetry through music and social media. She said the writing form has grown on Instagram and TikTok, with each app providing a different nuance.

"I think it's kind of interesting, that social branch of social media that's bringing poetry to people and shaping the aesthetic of the things they enjoy about poetry a little more," Brimhall said. "With a lot of Instagram poets, they share it with a lot of visual elements and they're also often pretty short.

"People who are coming to poetry through TikTok are often really thoughtful about reading style, like how you read your poems and how auditory elements of poetry come across, which is really kind of cool, because poetry started as an oral telegraph."

Brimhall said she is excited for what the future has to offer the world of poetry.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Taylor Swift's new album has Kansas poet laureate relishing art form