Most Popular Books by Ted Kooser

"Kooser has written more perfect poems than any poet of his generation." -Dana Gioia, Can Poetry Matter?

For Valentine?s Day 1986, Ted Kooser wrote ?Pocket Poem? and sent the tender, thoughtful composition to fifty women friends, starting an annual tradition that would persist for the next twenty-one years. Printed on postcards, the poems were mailed to a list of recipients that eventually grew to more than 2,500 women all over the United States. Valentines collects Kooser?s twenty-two years of Valentine?s Day poems, complemented with illustrations by Robert Hanna and a new poem appearing for the first time. ø Kooser?s valentine poems encompass all the facets of the holiday: the traditional hearts and candy, the brilliance and purity of love, the quiet beauty of friendship, and the bittersweetness of longing. Some of the poems use the word valentine, others do not, but there is never any doubt as to the purpose of Kooser?s creations.

Built on a treeless yard by a family who cleared away all the sprouting trees on the property, a house is eventually abandoned and left to deteriorate on a lot that is gradually overrun by wild trees, in a poignant tale of loss, change and nature''s quiet triumph by the Pulitzer Prize-winning former U.S. Poet Laureate and author of Delights & Shadows.

Provides instructions on writing and revising poems.

Delightfully universal, Raft by Pulitzer Prize-winner Ted Kooser travels the Midwest landscape, attuned to life’s shared experiences and emotions—illness, aging, beauty, and love. Raft is our fourth collection of poetry from Pulitzer Prize-winner and former U.S. Poet Laureate, Ted Kooser. Open in his desire to write for the everyday reader, these poems maintain the open-handed and accessible style that thousands have come to love. Yet, deeply imagistic and metaphorically rich, Raft shows us that even the simplest of objects, the simplest of actions, can become a portal. A boy feeding a goldfish becomes a meditation on loneliness. Scraps of gauze open the door to a study on happiness. Both local and delightfully universal, Raft travels the Midwest landscape, attuned to the shared experiences and emotions of life—illness and aging, beauty and love. Some poems, nostalgia-wrapped, cradle elegies for lost family and friends. Adrift on life rafts of language, this book is a lesson in intentional observation, a celebration of the small, quiet wonders of life.

Named U.S. Poet Laureate for 2004-2006, Ted Kooser is one of America''s masters of the short metaphorical poem. Dana Gioia has remarked that Kooser has written more perfect poems than any poet of his generation.In Flying at Night: Poems 1965-1985, Kooser has selected poems from two of his earlier works, Sure Signs (1980) and One World at a Time (1985). Taken together or read one at a time, these poems clearly show why William Cole, writing in the Saturday Review, called Ted Kooser "a wonderful poet," and why Peter Stitt, writing in the Georgia Review, proclaimed him "a skilled and cunning writer. . . . An authentic ''poet of the American people.''"

The publication of Ted Kooser''s Sure Signs: New and Selected Poems is a literary event of major importance. Long admired and praised by other poets, Kooser is also accessible to the reader not familiar with contemporary poetry.

"A short, accessible set of prose observations about nature, place, and time, arranged (like Local Wonders) according to the calendar year"--

A collection of poems written from the voices of survivors of the January 1888 Nebraska blizzard.

A tribute to the Pulitzer Prize-winning former poet laureate''s Iowa family is an evocative collection of tales that center around his beloved uncle Elvy, a victim of cerebral palsy who the author remembers for his love of fishing, pinochle, and drinking soda from an ice chest at the family gas station. Original.

Ted Kooser’s third book in the Pitt Poetry Series is a selection of poems published in literary journals over a ten year period by a writer whose work has been praised for its clarity and accessiblity, its mastery of figurative language, and its warmth and charm.

"The poems in Cotton Candy were written during Ted Kooser''s daily routine of getting up long before dawn and writing down whatever drifts into his mind"--

Red Stilts finds Pulitzer Prize-winner and former U. S. Poet Laureate Ted Kooser at the top of his imaginative and storytelling powers. Here are the richly metaphorical, imagistically masterful, clear and accessible poems for which he has become widely known. Kooser writes for an audience of everyday readers and believes poets “need to write poetry that doesn’t make people feel stupid.” Each poem in Red Stilts strives to reveal the complex beauties of the ordinary, of the world that’s right under our noses. Right under Kooser’s nose is rural America, most specifically the Great Plains, with its isolated villages, struggling economy, hard-working people and multiple beauties that surpass everything wrecked, wrong, or in error.

Kooser describes with exquisite detail, humour, and savvy the place he calls home in the Bohemian Alps of southeastern Nebraska

Presents brief poems originally exchanged by the longtime friends in their letters to each other, exploring such topics as the natural world, aging, and the nature of poetry.

One of the "Big Indie Books of Fall 2014"—Publishers Weekly "Ted Kooser must be the most accessible and enjoyable major poet in America. His lines are so clear and simple."—Michael Dirda,The Washington Post “Readers [of Splitting an Order] will find ‘characters’ both strange and wonderful, animal or human. There is a sense that time is passing quickly and that everything worthy must be captured and savored, from an old couple lovingly sharing a sandwich to another sowing seed potatoes to a tribute to an old dog who waits as age and winter approach… Master of the single-metaphor poem, Kooser offers images that evolve, fluid and unforced.”—Library Journal, starred review "Wisdom, compassion, and dignity continue to mark the poetry of Ted Kooser...Splitting an Order [is] a quiet collection that honors small victories and gives reasons to be hopeful."—Elizabeth Lund, The Christian Science Monitor "Kooser''s ability to discover the smallest detail and render it remarkable is a rare gift."—Bloomsbury Review Pulitzer Prize winner and best selling poet Ted Kooser calls attention to the intimacies of life through commonplace objects and occurrences: an elderly couple sharing a sandwich is a study in transcendent love, while a tattered packet of spinach seeds calls forth innate human potential. This long-awaited collection from the former U.S. Poet Laureate—ten years in the making—is rich with quiet and profound magnificence. From "Splitting an Order": I like to watch an old man cutting a sandwich in half … and then to see him lift half onto the extra plate that he asked the server to bring, and then to wait, offering the plate to his wife while she slowly unrolls her napkin and places her spoon, her knife and her fork in their proper places, then smoothes the starched white napkin over her knees and meets his eyes and holds out both old hands to him. Ted Kooser is the author of numerous books of poetry and prose, including Delights and Shadows (Copper Canyon Press), which won the Pulitzer Prize. A former US Poet Laureate, Kooser serves as editor for "American Life in Poetry," a nationally syndicated weekly newspaper column.

“Kooser . . . must be the most accessible and enjoyable major poet in America. His lines are so clear and simple.” —Michael Dirda, The Washington Post “Nothing escapes him; everything is illuminated.” —Library Journal “Will one day rank alongside of Edgar Lee Masters, Robert Frost, and William Carlos Williams.” —Minneapolis Tribune “Kooser’s ability to discover the smallest detail and render it remarkable is a rare gift.” —The Bloomsbury Review Four decades of poetry—and a generous selection of new work—make up this extraordinary collection by Pulitzer Prize winner Ted Kooser. Firmly rooted in the landscapes of the Midwest, Kooser’s poetry succeeds in finding the emotional resonances within the ordinary. Kooser’s language of quiet intensity trains itself on the intricacies of human relationships, as well as the animals and objects that make up our days. As Poetry magazine said of his work, “Kooser documents the dignities, habits, and small griefs of daily life, our hunger for connection, our struggle to find balance.” From “March 2”: Patchy clouds and windy. All morning our house has been flashing in and out of shade like a signal, and far across the waves of grass a neighbor’s house has answered, offering help. Ted Kooser is the author of eleven collections of poetry, including Delights & Shadows, which won the Pulitzer Prize. He served as the Poet Laureate of the United States, and is a visiting professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

About the Exhibit: This is a collaborative print exhibit with visual artist, Byron Sletten and Pulitzer Prize winning US Poet Laureate, Ted Kooser. This collaboration reflects some common ideas about using familiar references to address human truths. It''s accessible, approachable and yet as C. G. Jung would say, archetypal. Ted Kooser is known for his conversational style of poetry. Critic Dana Gioia, in his book Can Poetry Matter?, describes Kooser’s style as “drawn from common speech, with subject matter common to the Midwest.” Kooser’s early and contemporary work involves both troubles for Mid-westerners, and observations from everyday life. This could describe Sletten''s approach as well. His work incorporates objects that are lifted out of everyday experience – a glass jar, a rowboat, an old steam iron, a pair of nurse''s shoes... they suggest a story that connects to larger issues in life and relationships. A Little Background: Byron Sletten has exhibited in over 40 national and international shows over the last 30 years. This work is created using 3D imaging software to create realistic renderings – duplicating the physics of light with computer calculations. There is a video discussion. In 2005 Ted Kooser received the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for his book "Delights and Shadows.” He was named Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry by the Librarian of Congress to serve a term from October 2004 through May 2005. Then in 2005 was appointed to serve a second term as Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry. There is a video on page 17. Both Sletten and Kooser lived in Lincoln Nebraska and graduated from the U of NE, and coincidentally also grew up in Ames, Iowa. Although they never crossed paths then, in 2018 they connected and found common creative interests. (All works in exhibit are archival digital prints on paper, approximately 32” x 54”)

A collection of poetry by Ted Kooser.

One cold, spring morning, an ordinary grocery bag begins blowing around a landfill, then as it travels down a road, through a stream, and into a town, it is used in various ways by different people, many of whom do not even notice it.

"A freewheeling romp through the world of imagery and metaphor, this quietly startling collection of thirty poems, framed by the four elements, is about art and reality, fact and fancy. Look around: what do you see? A clown balancing a pie in a tree, or an empty nest perched on a leafless branch? As poet Connie Wanek alludes to in her afterword--a lively dialogue with former US Poet Laureate Ted Kooser--sometimes the simplest sights and sounds "summon our imaginations" and cry out to be clothed in the alchemical language of poetry. This compendium of the fleeting and unexpected turns the everyday--turtles, trees, and tadpoles; cow pies, lazy afternoons, and pillowy white marshmallows--into poetic gold." -- Amazon.com.

When Charlie visits his hardworking grandparents in the summer, he''s often left to himself. One day he goes out to play by the stream with a tin can for tadpoles, a special weed-whacking stick, and stones to drop from the iron bridge. He notices that when he strikes the bridge with a big stone, it rings with a bong like a church bell and echoes into the valley. And sometimes a faint, very distant, different-sounding bong comes back.

fourteen poems hand set letterpress limited editions

Poems portray nature, the past, death, memories, the night, space exploration, the poor, city life, and health.

Sometimes setting pen to paper requires bravery, and writing well means breaking free of the rules learned in school. Liberating and emboldening the beginning writer are the goals of Ted Kooser and Steve Cox in this spirited book of practical wisdom that brings to bear decades of invaluable experience in writing, teaching, editing, and publishing. Unlike ?how to write? books that dwell on the angst and the agony of the trade, Writing Brave and Free is upbeat and accessible. The focus here is the work itself: how to get started and how to keep going, and never is heard a discouraging word such as ?no,? ?not,? or ?never.? Because of the wealth of their experience, the authors can offer the sort of practical publishing advice that novices need and yet rarely find. Organized in brief, user-friendly chapters?on everything from sensory details to a work environment, from creating suspense to revising and taking criticism?the book allows aspiring (and practicing) writers to dip in anywhere and find something of value.

In a charming tale of an elderly man and his obliging young friend, former poet laureate Ted Kooser and newcomer Daniel Duncan invite us to look at the world with fresh eyes. Mr. Posey is feeling gloomy. Everything seems dull. Maybe he needs new glasses? Perhaps a trip to the Cheer Up Thrift Shop with his energetic young neighbor, Andy, will help. But when the duo try on the glasses in the shop’s barrel, they’re in for a big surprise. One pair with stars for frames shows only constellations in a night sky. Round frames reveal a world all aswirl, while a heart-shaped pair makes everything pink. And as soon as Mr. Posey puts on the cat-eye framed glasses, fierce dogs start chasing him. No, thank you! But when Andy makes a simple observation, Mr. Posey’s view opens to a whole new world — and finally everything is brighter, different, and exciting.

Cuando nombraron a Ted Kooser Poeta Laureado de los Estados Unidos, declaró: “Intento incorporar en mis poemas cosas sencillas y mirarlas con una nueva luz”. Kooser, que es un maestro en el arte de la metáfora, escribe con una claridad que a veces deslumbra pero que nunca ciega, con una sorprendente precisión y una engañosa sencillez. Los poemas de Kooser han sido comparados con los cuentos de Chéjov por su ambientación espacial, la presencia de los personajes y el sentido del tiempo. Delicias y sombras, Premio Pulitzer en 2005, es una crónica llena de nostalgia de una época pasada o a punto de desaparecer iluminada con objetos o hechos humildes como puede ser una tabla de herramientas con piezas difíciles de encontrar y específicas de una cultura, un tatuaje con cincuenta años en el brazo de alguien que fue joven y hermoso, un frasco de botones en una época en que nadie cose, la noticia de un entierro o el paso violento de un huracán en uno de los poe mas más vertiginosos del libro. Escribir con sencillez es extremadamente complicado. Kooser es un maestro.