Featured Reader

Note: Unfortunately, Ted has had to retire from any public speaking engagements for health reasons. He has been struggling with cancer since the late 1990s, and as a result, it would be too difficult for him to travel or to read in public, for medical reasons.

He has, however, graciously agreed to let Steve Buhler select and read some of his poetry. Steve is the Aaron Douglas Professor of English at UNL,focusing on Medieval & Renaissance Studies and Women's and Gender Studies. Steve was co-founder, with Bob Hall, of the Flatwater Shakespeare Company here in Lincoln, where he has also been a frequent performer and dramaturg. He is also the author of Shakespeare in the Cinema: Ocular Proof. 2002.

Ted Kooser was born in Ames, Iowa in 1939. He received his bachelor’s degree from Iowa State and his master’s in English from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, where he currently holds the title of Emeritus Professor of English. His collection of poetry titled Delights & Shadows won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for poetry. He was the United States Poet Laureate for the Library of Congress from 2004 – 2006. 

He published little magazines such as The Salt Creek Reader, The New Salt Creek Reader, The Blue Hotel, and The Oak Branch Gazette. He also established d Windflower Press . Which published 27 books by 19 authors, including the first longer work by Bill Kloefkorn, and went on to develop an international following.

Kooser has furthered Nebraska and Great Plains culture in poetry and the arts through his collaborations with other poets and writers of the region. Among the better-known collaborators have been Jim Harrison, and Bill Kloefkorn.

His overall list of publications and honors are simply too vast to list here, but can be seen at Ted Kooser | Nebraska Authors, including videos of some of his readings.

For Biographies & Bibliographies, 

and a Selection of Online Readings see  

Ted Kooser | Nebraska Authors 

and 

Stephen M. Buhler | Nebraska Authors