May 11, 2015 at 2:43 p.m.
Library to to host evening of poetry with poet laureate
Library to to host evening of poetry with poet laureate
The Rhinelander District Library will host Dr. Blaeser on Monday, May 18 at 6:30 p.m. for a special evening of poetry. She has authored three widely acclaimed collections of poetry, "Absentee Indians and Other Poems," "Apprenticed to Justice," and Trailing You," a non-fiction book, and two collections of poetry that she edited. Her poems have been translated into several languages and she has performed her poetry at over 200 different venues in a dozen different countries.
"The Wisconsin Poet Laureate is the state's leading voice for poetry," and "strives to enrich the lives of Wisconsin residents by sharing the values of poetry, creativity, and artistic expression across the state," according to wisconsinpoetlaureate.org.
Blaeser, of Anishinaabe ancestry and a native of White Earth Reservation in northwestern Minnesota, was praised by the Wisconsin Poet Laureate Commission for "her passion for the arts and her ability to reach broad audiences through poems that explore her Native culture, poems of place and community, poems of witness, family poems, poems centered in women's experience, and poems with a sly sense of humor ... Drawing on literal observation and the power of metaphor, Blaeser's poems create complex harmonies between the vibrant natural world and the resonant human imagination."
In addition to writing and teaching, Blaeser is actively involved in literature, the arts and social justice, serving on editorial boards for several university publishers, on the Poetry Fellowship Panel for the National Endowment for the Arts, and many other activities that serve the arts.
"Speaking about the role of poetry in public life, Blaeser told wisconsinpoetlaureate.org, "sometime in the history of this country, poetry got a bad rap. Those who love poetry, but especially those who read or pen poetry in private, need permission and encouragement to be the shining poetry nerds they may long to be! I am excited to suit up and become our state's 'muse' for the next two years.'"
Call Rhinelander District Library at (715) 365-1070 for any questions.
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