Karla Morton learned that she would be the Texas poet laureate of 2010 on the one-year anniversary of the day she was to begin treatment for breast cancer.

DRC/Lucinda Breeding

Karla Morton, a Denton resident, will be Texas’ poet laureate for 2010.

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“I found out on the year to the date that my nightmare began with the cancer operation,” said Morton, who’s now cancer-free. “I was ecstatic. There almost aren’t words.”

Words haven’t failed the poet, who said she wrote her way through chemotherapy and radiation for an aggressive form of the disease.

Even during grueling treatments, Morton wrote and worked to make good on her nomination to the Texas Commission on the Arts for the state’s top poetry honor.

“There is a large group of things you have to do. You have to submit a packet, and you really need to have [been published in] a certain number of publications to really qualify,” Morton said.

Morton has made it into a number of literary journals: descant, Amarillo Bay, Concho River Review and Southwestern American Literature. She’s been published in the Texas Poetry Calendar, among other outlets.

Morton also saw a pet project garner high praise: Wee Cowerin’ Timorous Beastie, an epic poem about a 17th-century Scottish pirate, John Murray and his love, Vashti.

Morton wrote a cinematic story about the pirate, separated from Vashti for years after her father insists he find his fortune before marrying her. He gives her an enchanted brooch, and when the village is blighted by disaster, the townspeople accuse Vashti of witchcraft and cursing the village.

Morton teamed up with Canadian composer Howard Baer, and the two produced a CD and book. Morton established Lagniappe Publishing to produce the CD-book, because there was virtually no market for such a product in traditional publishing houses.

Her festival performances of portions of the poem have drawn fans, and the piece earned the approval of other well-known writers, such as 2005 Texas Poet Laureate Alan Birkelbach and author Gerald Hausman.

The commission pared down its list of nominees to a group of finalists, which can be as many as 10. Gov. Rick Perry, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and the Legislature made the selection, choosing poets for this and next year, because the Legislature is in session every two years.

Poet Paul Ruffin, director of the creative writing program at Sam Houston State University, was named the 2009 Texas poet laureate.

Morton is the first woman in 15 years to win the title.

“Paul Ruffin — he’s a wonderful poet. Really, I’m just thrilled to be in such wonderful company,” Morton said. “And looking back at those who have come before? To be in the company of poets like Violette Newton and Alan Birkelbach is really humbling.”

Morton started writing poetry in the fifth grade. She said she was in middle school when she learned the state selects a poet laureate for each year.

“As soon as I found out there was such a thing as a poet laureate, I knew I wanted to become one,” she said. “This is a dream come true. Just being nominated is an honor. Being a finalist, well, I slept with the letter a few nights.”

Morton was diagnosed with breast cancer last year. She said she’s never missed a recommended mammogram, but if it weren’t for the brand-new digital technology used during her exam, the cancer wouldn’t have been detected. The cancer was an aggressive form, and another yearlong wait could have made for a bleak prognosis.

Like many patients diagnosed with cancer, Morton sought out both information and solace in books after what she called “that first kick in the gut.”

“I needed some salt in my teeth. I needed some grit. I needed something more than kittens and rainbows,” Morton said. “So I decided to write it myself. In that way, poetry took me by the hand and led me through it.”

The writing she did became Redefining Beauty, a collection of poetry and photos she hopes will help women in chemotherapy. With a work like Redefining Beauty, Morton said women in the throes of a scary disease will see that true beauty isn’t marred by cancer. She said she’s shared some of the poems in readings.

“The places where I’ve read from this have been appreciative of the work, and that’s been an affirmation for me,” she said.

She describes the work as a “slap you in the face” collection of work that doesn’t apologize for some of the less than noble or optimistic sentiments in the poetry.

Writers named as the state poet laureate don’t get a cash prize, but they get a resolution and a title they can use throughout their career. Morton said she’s planning a reading tour, and she intends to take poetry to places it doesn’t often go.

“I think one of my great strengths is being an ambassador of poetry. Now I can do that for the state, and I’m planning to do a small-town Texas tour, taking my poetry into schools that might be underserved. In a lot of these schools, students aren’t able to get much more than the one unit of poetry, and a lot of teachers wrap it up in the one Shakespeare play in a semester,” Morton said.

“There’s really such a small window for poetry in the classroom. My dream for the tour is to get kids thinking about poetry, reading it and writing it. I see their art on the walls and their poetry in the classroom.”

Morton has a book of poetry coming out on the Texas Christian University Press in 2010. She is featured in the current episode of The Art of Living Gallery, “Body & Life.” The national television spot is available on Dish Network, and the episode features Morton reading a poem inspired by her grandmother’s struggle with Alzheimer’s disease.

 LUCINDA BREEDING can be reached at 940-566-6877. Her e-mail address is cbreeding@dentonrc.com.

ON THE WEB

Karla K. Morton’s Web site: www.kkmorton.com