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Out of seven nominations, he was selected by committee and will serve a two-year term.
"It came as a complete surprise," Barone said.
Barone, 54, has taught at St. Joseph College for 23 years, where he's hosted readings of poets from heavy-hitters like Denise Levertov and John Ashbery to more obscure poets, so part of his duties - to host readings - will be a breeze.
The poet laureate is expected to sponsor readings each year and to promote poetry in town, work for which he is unpaid.
The office is a relatively new one. Several years ago, poets wrote to Town Council members and asked them to start the institution of poet laureate for the town, according to Councilwoman Shari Cantor. Resident Maria Sassi was suggested as a candidate in the letter, and after talking to people in the field, members of Town Council named her in April of 2005.
"She did a lot of good," said Cantor. "She worked hard with the schools, with the library personnel, and with professors at the colleges."
Sassi, the author of the book of poetry, "Rooted in Stars," has served as West Hartford Poet Laureate for two terms.
"I was honored and delighted to be asked to become the first," she said.
Barone says he considers himself more of a conceptual artist than a poet, and that when he is asked his influences, he is more likely to name people like the architect Robert Venturi.
"The essays of Ralph Waldo Emerson, (the art of) Sol Lewitt, mean more to me than the poetry of X, Y or Z," he said.
Barone has also written novels, but he says, "I think of my fiction as being very poetic, probably too poetic for readers of fiction."
He says he's already introduced himself to staff at the Noah Webster Library and scoped out a room there for readings. And he has ideas for two public programs so far.
One is to invite his colleague at St. Joseph, Kerry Driscoll, to speak about Mark Twain and poetry. And another is to organize a reading around Italian American Heritage Month in October, since both he and Sassi are of Italian extraction.
Barone and Sassi say that West Hartford is full of poetry - of people interested in poetry, of writers groups, of published poets. The town has its own publisher of poetry, Plinth Books, and used to have another, Potes & Poets, Barone said. Two West Hartford public school teachers, James Shivers and Virginia Connors, are accomplished poets, he added.
"Our town has really nourished much literary talent," said Sassi.
