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Celebrate National Poetry Month at ������ with the third annual U.S. Poet Laureate Reading featuring two-time U.S. Poet Laureate Ted Kooser on April 10.

Kooser will lead a discussion and Q&A in the University Library's Quiet Study Area at 2:15 p.m. Later that evening, Kooser will give a poetry reading at 7:30 p.m. in the Kent Student Center Kiva, followed by a reception and book signing. Both events are free and open to the public.

“We are thrilled to bring Ted Kooser to Kent State for our third annual U.S. Poet Laureate Reading, an annual series that has been created in collaboration with the University Libraries,” says David Hassler, director of Kent State’s Wick Poetry Center.

Appointed by the librarian of the U.S. Congress, Kooser held the position of U.S. Poet Laureate from 2004 to 2006. His numerous collections of poetry include Flying at Night, Delights & Shadows, One World at a Time and Sure Signs. He has received many honors for his writing including a Pushcart Prize, the Stanley Kunitz Prize from Columbia and the Pulitzer Prize.

Kooser was born in Ames, Iowa, in 1939. He received his Bachelor of Arts from Iowa State and his M.A. in English from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Today, he lives with his wife near the village of Garland, Neb. He spends his time teaching as a professor in the English department at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

“Those who attend Kooser’s reading and his talk will hear poetry that is not difficult or obtuse, but rather both highly accessible and deeply profound and resonant,” says Hassler. “This will be a remarkable reading.”

Click here for more information about Kent State’s Wick Poetry Center.

- Grace Snyder | March 31, 2014