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Chaparral from the Federation of Chaparral , Inc. serving Californiaupdr poets for over 60 yearsaftsVolume 66, No. 3 • April, 2005

President is Winner James Shuman, PSJ 2005 has been a busy year for Laureate Ted Kooser. On April 7, the Pulitzer commit- First Vice President tee announced that his Delights & Shadows had won the Pulitzer Prize for . And, Jeremy Shuman, PSJ later in the week, he accepted appointment to serve a second term as . Second Vice President While many previous Poets Laureate have also Katharine Wilson, RF Winners of the Pulitzer Prize receive a $10,000 award. Third Vice President been winners of the Pulitzer, not since 1947 has the Pegasus Buchanan, Tw prize been won by the sitting laureate. In that year, A professor of English at the University of Ne- braska-Lincoln, Kooser’s award-winning book, De- Fourth Vice President Robert won— and at the time the position Eric Donald, Or was known as the Consultant in Poetry to the Li- lights & Shadows, was published by in 2004. Treasurer brary of Congress. It was not until 1986 that the po- Ursula Gibson, Tw sition became known as the Poet Laureate Consult- “I’m thrilled by this,” Kooser said shortly after Recording Secretary ant in Poetry to the . the announcement. “ It’s something every poet dreams Lee Collins, Tw The 89th annual prizes in Journalism, Letters, of. There are so many gifted poets in this country, Corresponding Secretary Drama and Music were announced by Columbia Uni- and so many marvelous collections published each Dorothy Marshall, Tw versity. The poetry award honors a “distinguished year. That mine has been selected is a great honor.” Members-at-Large Chair volume of original verse by an American author.” Poetry Daily said of Delights & Shadows: “For Frances Yordan, FG Finalists were The Orchard by Brigit Pegeen Kelly more than thirty years Ted Kooser has written poems Monthly Contest Chair and Collected Poems by the late . that deftly bring dissimilar things into telling unities. Cleo Griffith, PSJ Throughout a long and distinguished writing career Convention Chair, 2005 Retired insurance man he has worked toward clarity and accessibility, mak- Katharine Wilson, RF puts a premium on verse ing poetry as fresh and spontaneous as a good water- James Shuman, PSJ color. A gyroscope balanced between a child’s hands, by Elizabeth Lund November 16, 2004 a jar of buttons that recalls generations of women, Convention Program Chair —excerpted from The Christian Science Monitor and a bird briefly witnessed outside a window — each Mary Rudge, AIP Ted Kooser isn’t embarrassed to say that the poems Annual Contest Chair he wrote in grade school were decidedly ordinary: “I reveals the remarkable within an otherwise ordinary Lisabeth Shuman, PSJ love my dog/ his padded paws/ at Christmas he’s my/ world.” Youth Contest Chair Santa Claus.” He doesn’t try to hide the fact that as a In addition to Delights & Shadows, Kooser is the Norma King Green, VW teenager “my impulse toward poetry had a lot to do author of 10 collections of poetry and prose includ- Children’s Poetry Fair and with girls.” Kooser, a 65-year-old retired insurance ex- ing Local Wonders, Seasons in the Bohemian Alps, Education Committee Chair ecutive, even admits to knocking the side-view mirror Linda McCarty, VW off his car after being named poet laureate of the United continued on page two: ‘Pulitzer’ States in August. He was so excited, he says in a phone Publications Chair interview, that he didn’t pay attention as he backed out praises Kooser James Shuman, PSJ of his driveway in Garland, Nebraska. … Kooser has written more perfect poems than Roster and ByLaws Chair any other poet of his generation. In a quiet way, he is Jeremy Shuman, PSJ Some poets might not mention those stories, culti- vating instead a more worldly image. But for Kooser, also one of its most original poets. His technical and Archivist and Librarian the first US laureate from the Plains States, ordinary intellectual interest may be narrow (indeed, in terms Katharine Wilson, RF moments are the impetus for art. His poems are like of limited techniques, he shares a common fault of Millennium Poetry flashlights illuminating small dramas: a father watch- his generation), but his work shows an impressive C. Joy Haas, RF ing his son get married; a tattoo that has faded. The emotional range always handled in a distinctively per- Web Site setting may be rural America, but the scene is univer- sonal way. Finally, his work does coalesce into an www.ChaparralPoets.org sal. That resonance, along with his clear, graceful style, impressive whole. Read individually, his poems FEDERATION have earned him numerous awards Yet what really sparkle with insight. Read together, they provide a makes Kooser a “thoroughly American laureate” — as broad and believable portrait of contemporary of predecessor has called him — is not just America. his approach but the way his perspective seems to mirror CHAPARRAL —excerpted from “The Anonymity of the Regional Poet,” that of “average” Americans. an on Ted Kooser from Can Poetry Matter? Essays “Most of us would prefer to look at cartoons in a maga- on Poetry and American Culture. poets CALIFORNIA inc. continued on page four: ‘Insurance’ printed 1992; 2002, Graywolf Press.

Copyright 2005 California Federation of Chaparral Poets, Inc. Chaparral Updrafts, Volume 66, No. 3, April 2005. All rights reserved. Poets retain rights to their poems. Copyright 2005 California Federation of Chaparral Poets, Inc. All rights reserved. Poets retain rights to their poems.

Chaparral Pulitzer Prize goes to Poet Laureate Kooser continued from page one year; One World at a Time (1985); Weather updrafts (2002) and The Poetry Home Repair Manual Central (1994); and Winter Morning Walks: (2005) published by University of Nebraska One Hundred Postcards to Editor & Publisher ...... James Shuman Press. Kooser was born in (2000), winner of the 2001 2521 Meadow Rue Drive Ames, Iowa, in 1939 and at- Nebraska Book Award for Modesto, CA 95355-3910 tended public school there Poetry. Local Wonders also 209-523-6954 FAX 209-521-8778 before earning his bachelor’s won the Nebraska Book Treasurer ...... Ursula T. Gibson degree at Iowa State Univer- Award for Nonfiction in P O Box 806, Tujunga, CA 91043 sity (1962). He taught school 2003. The book was also 818-353-7174 for one year before moving chosen as the Best Book Corresponding Secretary to Nebraska to pursue gradu- Written by a Midwestern ...... Dorothy Marshall ate school. He received his Writer for 2002 by Friends of American Writers, and it 430 Eleventh St, Pomona, CA 91766 master’s degree at the Uni- won the Gold Award for Au- 888-308-7488 versity of Nebraska in 1968. He has lived all of his life in tobiography in ForeWord Please send news and information items to Nebraska and Iowa. Magazine’s Book of the Year the editor one month in advance of intended Awards. He has an upcom- publication date. Kooser’s other collec- ing release, Flying at Night, For questions involving membership, either tions of poetry include Sure a new compilation from Uni- new or renewal, please contact the treasurer. Signs (1980), which re- versity of Pittsburg Press Be sure to visit our new web site: ceived the Society of Mid- that will include poems from Sure Signs and http://www.ChaparralPoets.org land Authors Prize for the best book of po- etry by a Midwestern writer published in that One World at a Time. This new book will be out in 2005. Kooser is also the author, with his long- Poets Laureate listed by dates of service time friend Jim Harrison, of Braided Creek: The following poets have been appointed by the Librarian of Congress to the Consultant A Conversation in Poetry (2003), for which position. In 1986 was the first to be designated Poet Laureate Consult- the two poets received the 2003 Award for ant in Poetry. The Poet Laureate “serves as ’s official lightning rod for the poetic Poetry from the Society of Midland Authors. impulse of Americans. During his or her term, the Poet Laureate seeks to raise the national Among Kooser’s other awards and honors are consciousness to a greater appreciation of the reading and writing of poetry.” two National Endowment for the Arts fellow- ships, the Pushcart Prize, the 1937-41 1968-70 Prize, the James Boatwright Prize and a Merit 1943-44 1970-71 Award from the Nebraska Arts Council. Robert Penn Warren 1944-45 1971-73 1945-46 1973-74 Since retiring from the insurance business, 1946-47 Stanley Kunitz 1974-76 Kooser has had more time for writing and 1947-48 1976-78 has published three books. He teaches po- Leonie Adams 1948-49 William Meredith 1978-80 etry and nonfiction writing as a visiting pro- 1949-50 1981-82 fessor at UNL and is on faculty for the Ne- 1950-52 1982-84 braska Summer Writers’ Conference. Since 1984-85 his appointment in September as the U.S. appointed in 1952 but did not serve Reed Whittemore 1984-85 Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the 1957-58 Interim Consultant in Poetry Library of Congress, he has traveled exten- 1958-59 1985-86 sively to readings, events and literary con- 1959-61 Robert Penn Warren 1986-87 ferences, while attending to his office in 1961-63 1987-88 , D.C. 1963-64 Howard Nemerov 1988-90 He recently unveiled a new public service, Reed Whittemore 1964-65 1990-91 the American Life in Poetry project. In col- 1965-66 1991-92 laboration with the Poetry Foundation and 1966-68 1992-93 the Library of Congress, the initiative offers 1993-95 Clarity is the hallmark of Kooser’s style, 1995-97 a weekly newspaper column called Ameri- with deceptively modest metaphors 1997-2000 can Life in Poetry free of charge to any pa- grounded in the Nebraska landscape. The Stanley Kunitz 2000-2001 per wishing to carry it. Each 6- to 8-inch col- Bloomsbury Review described his work as Billy Collins 2001-2003 umn features a poem by a contemporary “like clean, clear water.” Louise Glück 2003-2004 American poet and a brief introduction to the —The Times Ted Kooser 2004-2006 poem by Kooser.

PAGE 2 Chaparral Updrafts Copyright 2005 California Federation of Chaparral Poets, Inc. All rights reserved. Poets retain rights to their poems. Pulitzer Prize: Poetry winners listed ‘Everything from now The Pulitzer Prizes were established in 1917 with 1959 Selected Poems 1928-1958 Stanley on will be different’ an endowment from Joseph Pulitzer to Columbia Kunitz by Gretchen Fowler April 7, 2005 University to recognize significant achievements in 1960 Heart’s Needle W.D. Snodgrass Now that’s he’s won the coveted Pulitzer journalism, letters, drama, and music. Prizes in let- 1961 Times Three: Selected Verse from Prize for poetry, Nebraska poet Ted Kooser said, ters are awarded for fiction, general nonfiction, his- Three Decades Phyllis McGinley “everything from now on will be different.” tory, poetry, and biography/autobiography. 1962 Poems Kooser said he’s thrilled about the honor 1918 Love Songs Sara Teasdale 1963 Pictures from Breughel William Carlos 1919 Corn Huskers and Old Williams but concerned what the notoriety might do. Road to Paradise Margaret Widdemer 1964 At the End of the Open Road Louis He doesn’t want his poems to be published 1922 Collected Poems Edwin Arlington Simpson just because his name is on them. He said they Robinson 1965 77 Dream Songs might not be good poems, and he wants his 1923 The Ballad of the Harp-Weaver, A Few 1966 Selected Poems Richard Eberhart work to be judged fairly. 1967 Live or Die Figs from Thistles, Eight He said poetry can make an ordinary life 1968 The Hard Hours Anthony Hecht Edna St. Vincent Millay in American more exciting to live, and it’s often the ordi- 1969 Of Being Numerous Poetry 1922 A Miscellany nary things that he writes about. 1924 : A Poem with Notes 1970 Untitled Subjects He said he tries to look at ordinary things and Grace Notes Robert Frost 1971 The Carrier of Ladders W.S. Merwin in an imaginatory way, making them better 1925 The Man who Died Twice Edwin 1972 Collected Poems than what they are. Arlington Robinson 1973 Up Country Maxine Kumin 1926 What’s O’clock 1974 The Dolphin Robert Lowell “If you read enough poetry,” he said, “any- 1927 Fiddler’s Farewell 1975 thing can be special.” 1928 Tristram 1976 Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror John Kooser said he was introduced to poetry in 1929 John Brown’s Body Stephen Vincent Ashbery school, and as an adolescent, he thought po- 1977 Divine Comedies James Benet etry would be a good way to get girls. He took 1978 Collected Poems Howard Nemerov 1930 Selected Poems Conrad Aiken his writing more seriously around age 18 and 1979 Now and Then Robert Penn Warren 1931 Collected Poems Robert Frost has written every day for the past 50 years. 1932 The Flowering Stone 1980 Selected Poems Admitting that he’s not always a good 1933 Conquistador Archibald MacLeish 1981 The Morning of the Poem James writer, Kooser said he turns out only about 10 1934 Collected Verse Schuyler to 12 poems per year that he feels are good 1935 Bright Ambush 1982 The Collected Poems enough to publish. 1936 Strange Holiness Robert P. Tristram 1983 Selected Poems Coffin 1984 American Primitive He said, “I’m not an inspired writer every 1937 Robert Frost 1985 Yin day by any means.” 1938 Cold Morning Sky 1986 The Flying Change Henry Taylor Kooser’s advice to people wanting to write 1939 Selected Poems 1987 Thomas and Beulah Rita Dove poetry is, “Read, read, read. We all learn the 1940 Collected Poems 1988 Partial Accounts: New and Selected arts by imitation.” Poems William Meredith 1941 Sunderland Capture Leornard Bacon —excerpted from The Grand Island Independent 1942 The Dust Which is God William Rose 1989 New and Collected Poems Richard Wilbur Benet An example of Kooser’s poetry 1943 Robert Frost 1990 The World Doesn’t End Most of the comments about his poetry 1944 Western Star Stephen Vincent Benet 1991 Near Changes Mona Van Duyn mention its accessability and ease of under- 1945 V-Letter and Other Poems Karl 1992 Selected Poems standing. Here is a recent example: Shapiro 1993 The Wild Iris Louise Gluck 1946 No Award 1994 Neon Vernacular: New & Selected Poems Best Face 1947 Lord Weary’s Castle Robert Lowell 1948 The Age of Anxiety W.H. Auden 1995 The Simple Truth “Just put on your best face,” Mother would say, 1949 Terror and Decorum 1996 The Dream of the Unified Field Jorie telling me how to get on in the world, 1950 Annie Allen Gwendolyn Brooks Graham and I’ve knotted its straps so many mornings 1951 Complete Poems Carl Sandburg 1997 Alive Together: New and Selected that I’m used to the heat, the stickiness, 1952 Collected Poems Poems the intractable stiffness around the mouth. 1953 Collected Poems 1917-1952 Archibald 1998 Black Zodiac MacLeish 1999 Blizzard of One Mark Strand The fabric’s worn thin, with a few small patches, 1954 The Waking 2000 Repair: Poems C. K. Williams and it’s spotted with stains, and today 1955 Collected Poems 2001 Different Hours at the mirror I could almost see through it 1956 Poems - North & South Elizabeth 2002 Practical Gods into that other face, the one I started with Bishop 2003 Moy Sand and Gravel so many years ago, not the best face 1957 Things of this World Richard Wilbur 2004 Walking to Martha’s Vineyard Franz but my own small fearful kisser, peering out, 1958 Promises: Poems 1954-1956 Robert Wright hoping for someone to show it the way. Penn Warren 2005 Delights & Shadows Ted Kooser —Ted Kooser

APRIL 2005 PAGE 3 Copyright 2005 California Federation of Chaparral Poets, Inc. Chaparral Updrafts, Volume 66, No. 3, April 2005. All rights reserved. Poets retain rights to their poems. Insurance man wrote poetry each day before work continued from page one into classes that would allow him to teach high Now, years later, the poem reveals much about zine than read a poem,” says Kooser, noting the school English. the new laureate. “I am still interested in acknowl- common complaint that poetry is hard to deci- After a year of teaching high school, he began edging that the people who read books have other pher or full of elusive, hidden meanings. “In the a master of arts program at the University of Ne- priorities, and I want to consider those. I want to real world, if you come across a poem, who says, braska, but again there was an unexpected detour. write books of poems interesting enough and use- ‘Study it’? If it doesn’t do anything for you, you The problem: He was so focused on his studies ful enough that they can compete with the need just move on.” with poet Karl Shapiro that he let his other classes to get a raincoat cleaned.” Kooser wants readers to linger, of course, which slide. The solution: he began working in the in- Some might snicker at that, but Kooser has is why he works so hard to make his poems clear surance industry, a career that lasted 35 years. never been afraid to say what he feels or to ex- — sometimes going through 40 or 50 drafts. One Such decisions might sound more practical than press deep emotion. When he battled a few of his best critics, he says, is his wife, Kathleen poetic. But in his life, as in his work, the extraor- years ago, poetry provided an important anchor. Rutledge, editor of the Lincoln Journal Star. dinary stems from the ordinary. “I liked the money Each day he’d write a short poem — on a A few years ago at Lincoln Benefit Life, he and the benefits. I liked the structure, too,” he says postcard — to a close friend. Those poems, which showed poems to his secretary. If she didn’t un- of the corporate world. He began writing at 4:30 celebrated the heartbreaking loveliness of life, derstand them, he’d revise. “I never want to be or 5 a.m. each day, a habit he still continues, often eventually became Winter Morning Walks: 100 thought of as pandering to a broad audience,” he with dogs Alice and Howard by his side. Postcards to Jim Harrison, which won the Ne- says, “but you can tweak a poem just slightly His teaching career resumed at the Univer- braska Book Award in 2001. and broaden the audience very much. If you have sity of Nebraska in the 1970s, when he taught “The kind of poem I like very much looks at a literary allusion, you limit the audience. Every creative writing to nontraditional students. He the world and shows readers its designs and beauty choice requires a cost-benefit analysis.” returned as a visiting professor after retiring from and significance in a new way,” he says. “It’s like Kooser has done several “risk analyses” re- his insurance company in 1999. a type of kaleidoscope, only I don’t have colored garding his career choices, too, each of which But his experience in the corporate world in- glass chips, I just have [words as] mirrors, mirror pushed him toward a literary life, albeit in a cir- fluences his literary work in surprising ways. His patterns to make ordinary things look attractive.” cuitous way. book Sure Signs (1980) opens with a poem called Those “mirrors” wouldn’t work nearly as well The first came during his undergraduate years “Selecting a Reader.” In it, Kooser describes the without Kooser’s keen observation. “If you pay at Iowa State, where he majored in architecture kind of audience he wants: a woman who weighs attention to the ordinary world, there are all sorts until his junior year. That’s when the math and the choice of buying one of his books or having of wonderful things in it,” he says. “But most of

the physics “killed me,” he says. He switched her dirty raincoat dry cleaned. The coat wins. us go through the day without noticing.”

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