Midwestern writer
explores rural life,
has national appeal
By John Payne
Staff Reporter
At two in the morning, when the
moon
has driven away,
leaving thefaint taillight of one star
at the horizon, a light
like moonlight leaks
from broken crates that lie fallen
along the highway, becoming
motels, all-night cafes, and bus
stations
with greenhouse windows,
where lone women sit like over
turned flowerpots,
crushing the soft, gray petals of old
coats.
-“Highway 30,’’ by Ted Kooser
With six published books, and
numerous literary awards, Lincoln
poet Ted Kooser is among the
more acclaimed writers oT the
Midwest. His work over the past
twenty years has had nationwide
appeal, conjuring solemn, often
mournful images of rural exis
tence.
Born in Ames, Iowa, in 1939,
Kooser attended Iowa State, where
he first was published in student
literary magazines. In 1968 he re
ceived his Masters degree in Eng
lish from the University of Ne
braska-Lincoln.
His 1980 publication “Sure
Signs,” a collection of poems, re
ceived the Society for Midlands
Authors’ Prize for the best book of
poetry by a Midwestern author for
that year.
Aitnougn much ot his poetry
concerns me joys and hardships of
farm life, Kooser said his work is
not directed entirely at local read
ers.
"Certainly my rural background
has influenced my poetry. I mean,
you have to write about what you
know,” he said. “But I’m not writ
ing specifically about Iowa or
Nebraska.”
For the past 16 years Kooser has
worked at Lincoln Benefit Life
Company, where he is second vice
president in charge of marketing.
He frequently is asked to substitute
as a visiting professor for UNL
poetry classes.
Kooser also has served on the
Nebraska Arts Council and as
elected president of the Nebraska
Literary Heritage Association.
Perhaps his most interesting
work is “Hatcher,” a book which
tells the story of a philandering
writer. The fictional Hatcher never
is shown or heard from, but Kooser
recalls his adventurous life through
quotes from those who knew him. <
The unusual format of the book
was inspired by a relationship*
Kooser had with a woman in the
late 70s.
“It was a classic case of unre
quited love," he said. "I was be
tween marriages and infatuated
with this woman who paid me no
attention whatever. I began send
ing her postcards with these Victo
rian drawings, every time a differ
ent figure would be saying some
thing to express how I felt.”
“Pretty soon, the attraction died,
but I started thinking to myself that
it might be a good idea for a book,"
See KOOSER on 12
All Schabcn/ Daily Nebraskan
Writer Ted Kooser sits in his tree house; one of the many places on
his acreage where he sits and thinks about his writing.
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