from NYTimes...
Arts Briefing
By BEN SISARIO
Published: August 12, 2004
HIGHLIGHTS
NEW POET AT THE TOP The Library of Congress said yesterday that it would name Ted Kooser, left, whose poems often depict the Midwest, as the nation's poet laureate. The appointment of Mr. Kooser, a visiting professor in the English department at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, who lives in Garland, Neb., is to be formally announced today. Mr. Kooser, 65, a retired life insurance executive, has written 10 poetry collections, including "Delights & Shadows" this year, and "Winter Morning Walks: One Hundred Postcards to Jim Harrison," which won the 2001 Nebraska Book Award for Poetry. Of the appointment, the Librarian of Congress, James H. Billington, said: "Ted Kooser is a major poetic voice for rural and small town American and the first poet laureate chosen from the Great Plains. His verse reaches beyond his native region to touch on universal themes in accessible ways." Mr. Kooser said, "We poets out here don't get a lot of attention, and now I will and I have some trepidation over that.'' Mr. Kooser will take over the position from the Pulitizer Prize-winning poet Louise E. Glück, 60, who is a writer in residence at Yale University, on Oct. 7 with a reading of his work. ELIZABETH OLSON
Arts Briefing
By BEN SISARIO
Published: August 12, 2004
HIGHLIGHTS
NEW POET AT THE TOP The Library of Congress said yesterday that it would name Ted Kooser, left, whose poems often depict the Midwest, as the nation's poet laureate. The appointment of Mr. Kooser, a visiting professor in the English department at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, who lives in Garland, Neb., is to be formally announced today. Mr. Kooser, 65, a retired life insurance executive, has written 10 poetry collections, including "Delights & Shadows" this year, and "Winter Morning Walks: One Hundred Postcards to Jim Harrison," which won the 2001 Nebraska Book Award for Poetry. Of the appointment, the Librarian of Congress, James H. Billington, said: "Ted Kooser is a major poetic voice for rural and small town American and the first poet laureate chosen from the Great Plains. His verse reaches beyond his native region to touch on universal themes in accessible ways." Mr. Kooser said, "We poets out here don't get a lot of attention, and now I will and I have some trepidation over that.'' Mr. Kooser will take over the position from the Pulitizer Prize-winning poet Louise E. Glück, 60, who is a writer in residence at Yale University, on Oct. 7 with a reading of his work. ELIZABETH OLSON
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