Ted Kooser
December 8, 2004
Ted Kooser is the new US poet laureate. This was actually announced in September, but such announcements don’t make the front page, so you will forgive me for only picking up on this recently.
Ted Kooser replaces Louise Gluck, who replaced Billy Collins, a poet I have discussed here a couple of times. Like Collins, Kooser is very readable, though I find Kooser relies more on imagery and Collins relies more on story.
The press has made a somewhat big deal of the fact that Kooser is from Nebraska, and the first poet laureate from the great plains. I do think geography is a big part of Kooser’s work. Consider, for example, his poem Flying at Night.
There are some nice profiles of Kooser in the New York Times, Washington Post, and Christian Science Monitor. The first two links require (free) registration.
Posted by Bill Trippe at December 8, 2004 9:44 AM
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http://www.mipoesias.com/Volume19Issue1/interviewees.html
The January issue of Mipoesias came out in September so this interview would be more timely. I thought it interesting what he said about revisions. I revise as well, but sometimes I notice if I revise too much, I edit the energy right out of the poem.
Posted by Pam at December 10, 2004 11:03 AM