Please join us as Janet Krauss leads a discussion of ten short poems by former Poet Laureate of the United States Ted Kooser. A readings packet will be emailed in advance of the program.

No charge for the program. Advance registration required. Register online in order to receive the Zoom session invitation link. Please email Michael Bellacosa at mbellacosa@wiltonlibrary.org with any questions.

Ted Kooser, former Poet Laureate of the United States and Pulitzer Prize winner, said, “I want to show people how interesting the ordinary world can be if you pay attention.” Compassion runs throughout his poems set “in the ordinary world.”  We can warmly relate to him when he receives a birthday card from a relative who lists her medical woes or as he tenderly recalls his grandmother in her kitchen. His poems concentrate also on the uncertainty that life presents and the bygone world of the Great Plains, the hardships endured. Although his sense of place rests in Nebraska, it transcends to resonate with other locales such as the New England rural life. Ted Kooser connects with us through the accessibility of his language, details, images, and understanding of human nature.

Janet Krauss - who has two books of poetry published, Borrowed Scenery (Yuganta Press) and Through the Trees of Autumn (Spartina Press) - has recently retired from teaching English at Fairfield University. Her mission is to help and guide Bridgeport’s  young children through her teaching creative writing, leading book clubs and reading to and engaging a kindergarten class. As a poet, she co-directs the poetry program of the Black Rock Art Guild. She has been published five times in Amethyst Review.