Nebraska Poetry: A Sesquicentennial Anthology edited by Daniel Simon

Nebraska Poetry: A Sesquicentennial Anthology
edited by Daniel Simon [ 811.08 Sim ] 

In conjunction with the statewide celebrations of Nebraska’s 150th anniversary of Statehood in 2017 (a “sesquicentennial”), this marvelous hardback anthology, covering the history of poetry by poets from Nebraska, was released at a gala event at the Bennett Martin Public Library downtown on April 2nd, 2017. This book, featuring over 160 works by over 80 Nebraska poets, covers the entire 150-year history of Nebraska, from the very first poem published after our statehood was established, to selections by several of today’s most acclaimed and active poets in the state. Organized in chronological order, the first part of the book features selections from some of Nebraska’s most famed authors, including Willa Cather, Bess Streeter Aldrich, Loren Corey Eiseley and John G. Neihardt. The middle section of the book is dedicated to poets who made a strong impression in the early and middle parts of the 20th century, including long-time State Poet William Kloefkorn, two-time National Poet Laureate Ted Kooser, current State Poet Twyla Hansen and many more. The latter part of the book features selections from many of today’s up-and-coming Cornhusker wordslingers.

If you’re a fan of poetry from Nebraska, and have followed any of the 80+ poets represented within, I recommend this anthology to expand your reading. If you are dabbling in the literary world of Nebraska history as the state celebrates its 150th birthday, this is a great sampler, that may lead you to numerous poets whose more extensive works exist in the libraries’ collection. And even if you’re just a poetry fan who doesn’t care where the poets originated, this is a still a stellar collection, filled with excellent representative samplings from a variety of regional authors. And it seems especially fitting to be reviewing this volume in April, which is National Poetry Month!

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try many of the volumes of poetry collections by Nebraska poets, found in the American Poetry section of the non-fiction collection — 811 (Poet’s name).]

[ official Nebraska Poetry: A Sesquicentennial Anthology web page] | [ Nebraska 150 Books challenge ]

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewers recommendations!

Valentines

Valentines
by Ted Kooser [811 Koo]

This is a light poetry collection from Nebraskan and former U.S. Poet Laureate (2004-2006) Ted Kooser. Starting in 1986, Kooser composed a Valentine's Day poem and mailed it (first to 50 women friends, but in more recent years to more than 2,500 women friends) around the country, to arrive on the holiday. This book collects the first 22 years of Kooser's tradition, and accompanies the poems with attractive, homey pen-and-ink illustrations by Robert Hanna. The poems range from serious to whimsical and touch on all aspects of the Valentine's Day holiday, from the stereotypical hearts, flowers and chocolates trappings, to explorations of love and friendship. These poems will make you think, will force you to explore your own feelings, and will make you appreciate the loved ones in your own life. If you've never read Kooser's poetry before -- and his work regularly appears in the local newspaper, so why haven't you? -- this is a marvelous collection to get started with. Make it an annual tradition to read Valentines by Ted Kooser on Valentine's Day!. [If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try the other poetry collections by Ted Kooser.] -- recommended by Scott C. - Bennett Martin Public Library


[ official Valentines web site ] | [ official Ted Kooser web site ]

Have you read this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide web site. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month.

National Poetry Month at your Libraries!

"There was a young lass name of Mary
Whose poetry interests did vary
Cummings, Frost, Plath and Poe
Kloefkorn, Yeats and Thoreau
And she found them all at her library!"

Stop in to your local library to enjoy National Poetry Month in April by checking out the English-language poetry collections in the 811 (811.08 for multi-author anthologies) and 821 (821.08) sections of the non-fiction. There's a special display up at Bennett Martin Public Library on the 2nd floor...and there may be more displays at your local neighborhood branches as well!

There's also Poetry-related booklists on the BookGuide site:

• A Crop of Words [Nebraska Poets]
• The Good Life -- Nebraska Authors [Bethany Branch Booktalk, February 8, 2008] [Meredith M.]
• Native Voices [contemporary Native American writers - including poets]
• Nebraska Author Weldon Kees [general fiction, poetry, reviews and essays]
• Nebraska Author John G. Neihardt [general fiction, poetry, non-fiction]