Nebraska Poets

Twyla Hansen

Twyla Hansen was raised in northeast Nebraska on land her grandparents farmed in the late 1800s as immigrants from Denmark. She received her BS in Horticulture from the University of Nebraska — Lincoln. She is a creative writing presenter through the Speakers Bureau of the Nebraska Humanities Council. Her writing has appeared in a wide variety of publications. Her previous poetry books are Sanctuary Near Salt Creek (Lone Willow Press, 2001), In Our Very Bones (1997, A Slow Tempo Press), and How to Live in the Heartland (1992, Flatwater Editions). Her latest book, Potato Soup (Backwaters Press, 2003), won the 2004 Nebraska Book Awards competition for poetry. She works and lives in Lincoln, Nebraska.

William Kloefkown

William Kloefkorn was named Nebraska Poet Laureate in 1982 and held that distinction for more than a decade. He has written 12 books of poetry, including Alvin Turner As Farmer, Platte Valley Homestead and Drinking the Tin Cup Dry, two collections of short stories, two memoirs ( This Death by Drowning and Restoring the Burnt Child) and a collection of children's Christmas stories. He initiated the Nebraska “poets in the schools” program, and has read his work and conducted workshops in elementary, junior high, and high schools in Nebraska and across the country. William Kloefkorn lives and writes in Lincoln , where he is emeritus professor of English at Nebraska Wesleyan.

Ideas for Teachers to Encourage Student Writing

Emphasize a focus on the theme of rural place

Since the effectiveness or impact of any particular poem is so subjective, it is difficult to say exactly what makes good poetry. However, for the purposes of this project, student poets and their sponsoring teachers should keep in mind the fact that the project goal is to celebrate rural poetry, particularly poetry that reflects a sense of rural place. The ten chosen poets will be selected because of their poetic skill but also because their writing represents the experience of rural life in Nebraska . Inspired by the poetry of our National Poet Laureate, Ted Kooser, we invite student poets to become familiar with Kooser's work and to write their own “local wonders.”

Emphasize the literary aspects of poetry

In addition to the focus on rural places, many people admire certain literary qualities in poetry. Everyone has his or her preferences, and different kinds of poetry have different strengths and limitations. To help you imagine some of the things the judges might look for, consider these qualities:

• Originality. Encourage students to think of new ways to say things, take a novel approach to a familiar topic, or challenge themselves to explore new styles.
• Focus. Good poetry often begins with a specific image, memory, or thought and then explores it to arrive at some insight or question about life.
• Organization. Encourage students to think about how their poems begin and end. How do the different parts of the poem relate to each other? Sometimes poems conclude with a twist, a deepening of meaning, or a suggestion for change
• Word choice. Vivid verbs, precise nouns, and unique word combinations help paint pictures in a reader's mind. Imagery helps appeal to the senses.
• Rhythm and rhyme. Poetry can use different types of interesting rhythms, such as smooth and metered, staccato, or conversational. Line breaks, indentions, and even the use of space can convey meaning. Traditional or nontraditional rhyme may add depth to a poem or limit it. Encourage students to consider how their poems sound when read aloud.
• Voice. A poem may take on an emotional quality, such as one of longing, sadness, elation, anger, or amusement. It may also employ dialect or slang to evoke a mood or capture a scene. Some poems speak to a specific audience.
• Conventions. Spelling, mechanics, usage, or grammar may be altered for stylistic reasons, or conventional rules may help to clarify meaning.