Joliet’s 1st poet laureate looks to promote a vibrant local arts community

Joliet’s first poet laureate Uxmar Torres said he wrote his winning poem, “A Light Over the River,” while sitting on the Jefferson Street bridge, legs dangling over its side.

Torres was announced as poet laureate May 18 at the “Ye Olde May Fest” event at the Billie Limacher Bicentennial Park in Joliet.

“I didn’t think I’d get it, quite honestly,” said Torres, 28, who moved to Joliet three years ago. “I always thought of myself as an outsider in the community.”

Torres was one of three finalists who read their original Joliet-themed poems May 16 at the Joliet Area Historical Museum to a panel of four judges.

The judges were Chloe Berghuis, a circulation clerk at the Black Road branch of the Joliet Public Library; Joliet City Council member Cesar Cardenas; Illinois state poet laureate Angela Jackson; and Lucie Martinez, a student at Joliet Central High School.

Lori Carmine, Joliet’s cultural affairs manager and Bicentennial Park park director, emceed the finalist readings. Raymond Heitner, Joliet city planner and liaison to the Arts Commission, read Carl Sandberg’s poem “Joliet” as part of his introductory remarks.

Duties of a poet laureate

Torres will serve as poet laureate for two years and be paid a $6,000 honorarium for two years of service through a state grant. However, city officials said in February that candidates will be advised that pay will be dependent on the continued availability of the grant.

His responsibilities include writing poems about Joliet, giving a minimum of 10 public readings, conducting free and open-to-the-public workshops, and promoting poetry and spoken-word as art forms.

“A poet laureate would be a positive force for the city of Joliet to promote our great city through poetry,” Ron Romero, chairman of the Arts Commission, told the City Council in February.

Torres said he has hosted and participated in various mic events in the Chicago area and promoted creative writing since his college days at Augustana College in Rock Island, where Torres became involved in the Quad Cities greater writing community. Torres graduated from Augustana College in 2018.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Torres said he held smaller events at which the artists performed in person to a virtual audience.

When you have an itch to perform, you put your art out there.”

—  Uxmar Torres, Joliet's first poet laureate

On April 5, Torres also organized and hosted Bicentennial Park’s first poetry open-mic night in honor of National Poetry Month. Torres said he first learned about Bicentennial Park by participating in its annual poets and playwright’s festival in January.

Torres also has experience hosting workshops. An as an educational outreach specialist in the educational talent search program at Joliet Junior College, Torres gives workshops to students on financial aid and financial literary as part of his job duties, said DeAndre Butler, dean of multicultural access and success at JJC.

Butler praised Torres’ work ethic and his ability to motivate students and explore college and career possibilities, even though Torres just started working at JJC a few months ago.

“He’s been a great asset to our team,” Butler said. “He just came in and hit the ground running.”

From lyricist to laureate

Torres grew up in Chicago as one of eight children. Four of those children earned college degrees and several, like Torres, are artists, he said. One brother paints and sculpts, another dances, and another produces music, he said.

By age 5, Torres said he was in the studio ”religiously” with his music producer brother and soaked up the artistry of singers, musicians and rappers.

“I was around 9 or 10 when one of them told me, ‘Hey, if you want to be in the studio, you have to work. No one just sits in here. We all have to work to be part of it. Either jump on the mic or start writing. You have to do something,’” Torres said. “So I took off from there.”

Torres said he initially wrote the lyrics of the songs he heard. Then, he started writing his own lyrics and poems.

“I fell in love with doing lyrics a cappella and learned that spoken-word is a thing,” Torres said. “I found that to be my niche.”

Torres said he also used his writing skills in middle school to help his male friends write poems for girls and to help others write poems for their mothers.

“I always found my voice through literally my voice, through my words,” Torres said. “That was my skill. I found that I could use that to help other people find the right words in a nonintrusive way.”

Torres said he never needed coaxing to perform, and neither did some of his friends. One high school friend even did laps in the hall beatboxing and freestyling, he said. Their spontaneous performances annoyed some and encouraged others to join them, he said. Torres even uploaded his works to YouTube.

“When you have an itch to perform, you put your art out there,” Torres said.

Torres said he originally studied pre-med and business, but his heart was in creative writing, and he eventually switched majors.

“My strongest attribute has been my communication,” Torres said. “I played translator my whole life. My parents speak very little English. My first language is Spanish.”

Torres said his personal goal is to be fluent in five languages: Spanish, English, French, Arabic and the native language of the Mayans. His goal as Joliet’s first poet laureate is to help foster a vibrant arts community in Joliet. He hopes to host bilingual and multilingual poetry events as well as promote other art forms.

“That’s going to bring more ideas and more artists to the surface,” Torres said.