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Nebraska Presence: An Anthology of Poetry
2008 Nebraska Book Award
2018 One Book One Nebraska selection
Edited by Greg Kosmicki and Mary K. Stillwell, Nebraska Presence includes poems by more than 80 contemporary Nebraska poets, including Pulitzer Prize winner and former Poet Laureate of the United States, Ted Kooser, Nebraska State Poet William Kloefkorn, several poets who have had their poems read on Garrison Keillor’s Writer’s Almanac including Greg Kuzma, Marjorie Saiser, Twyla Hansen, Grace Bauer, and Greg Kosmicki, as well as widely noted poets Hilda Raz, Roy Scheele, Steve Langan, and many others.
2018 One Book One Nebraska selection
Edited by Greg Kosmicki and Mary K. Stillwell, Nebraska Presence includes poems by more than 80 contemporary Nebraska poets, including Pulitzer Prize winner and former Poet Laureate of the United States, Ted Kooser, Nebraska State Poet William Kloefkorn, several poets who have had their poems read on Garrison Keillor’s Writer’s Almanac including Greg Kuzma, Marjorie Saiser, Twyla Hansen, Grace Bauer, and Greg Kosmicki, as well as widely noted poets Hilda Raz, Roy Scheele, Steve Langan, and many others.
- GenresPoetry
200 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2007
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November 14, 2019Review by Sherry Preston
The 2018 selection for the One Book One Nebraska is Nebraska Presence: An Anthology of Poetry, edited by Greg Kosmicki and Mary K. Stillwell. Including poetry by Ted Koozer, Twila Hansen and William Kloefkorn as well as many less-well known poets, this anthology covers the breadth of Nebraska.
Our One Book One Nebraska program provides Nebraskans an opportunity to have a common conversation about literature if we all have read the same book. Humanities Nebraska with The Nebraska Center for the Book and several other entities have selected one book each year for 14 years. They have included classic and contemporary Nebraska authors as well as both fiction and non-fiction books. Each selection has a tie to Nebraska, through the author, the setting or the general theme.
An anthology exposes the reader to a wide variety of styles of poetry. The variety allows everybody to find something they can to relate to. Most of the poetry is about regular people doing day to day activities.
I would suggest Nebraska Presence: An Anthology of Poetry to poetry lovers and those wanting to participate in statewide literary conversation.
The 2018 selection for the One Book One Nebraska is Nebraska Presence: An Anthology of Poetry, edited by Greg Kosmicki and Mary K. Stillwell. Including poetry by Ted Koozer, Twila Hansen and William Kloefkorn as well as many less-well known poets, this anthology covers the breadth of Nebraska.
Our One Book One Nebraska program provides Nebraskans an opportunity to have a common conversation about literature if we all have read the same book. Humanities Nebraska with The Nebraska Center for the Book and several other entities have selected one book each year for 14 years. They have included classic and contemporary Nebraska authors as well as both fiction and non-fiction books. Each selection has a tie to Nebraska, through the author, the setting or the general theme.
An anthology exposes the reader to a wide variety of styles of poetry. The variety allows everybody to find something they can to relate to. Most of the poetry is about regular people doing day to day activities.
“So this is Nebraska. A Sunday
afternoon; July. Driving along
with your hand out squeezing the air,
a meadowlark waiting on every post.”
by Ted Koozer (excerpted from “So This is Nebraska”)
“I kept thinking somebody could win
but I couldn’t find the starting line in that house.
All week I couldn’t find the flags
or the silver trophy or the posted rules of the game.”
by Marjorie Saiser (excerpted from “My Father Argued with my Mother”)
I would suggest Nebraska Presence: An Anthology of Poetry to poetry lovers and those wanting to participate in statewide literary conversation.
June 1, 2024
“When you are old and defeated and your elbows protrude from your clothes like so many drunken football fans, say you are learning from experience the price of victory. When you are old, and your few teeth are your last few friends, say it is ok there is more room now in your mouth for your tongue, where before there was never enough space to echo its fine speeches. …”
Greg Kuzma
Greg Kuzma
August 3, 2022
This is a great collection of poetry that reflects the Nebraska spirit. Although not long, this is not the type of book that can be read in one sitting but must be absorbed slowly to be enjoyed. Many talented artists are represented. The 2018 One Book, One Nebraska Award.
December 4, 2017
An enjoyable sampling of contemporary poets with Nebraska connections, with an emphasis on professors of the colleges.
May 4, 2022
Some real gems in this collection. I particularly enjoyed the pieces that focused on place. Most were solid.
September 6, 2018
I just read this to see what kind of poems the people In my home state came up with and they where all over the place. It was a good book to pick through from time to time but then only a few poems stuck with me
February 9, 2020
This year’s selection for the 2018 One Book One Nebraska is “Nebraska Presence: An Anthology of Poetry,” edited by Greg Kosmicki and Mary K. Stillwell. Including poetry by Ted Koozer, Twila Hansen and William Kloefkorn as well as many less-well known poets, this anthology covers the breadth of Nebraska.
Our One Book One Nebraska program provides Nebraskans an opportunity to have a common conversation about literature if we all have read the same book. Humanities Nebraska with The Nebraska Center for the Book and several other entities have selected on book each year for 14 years. They have included classic and contemporary Nebraska authors as well as both fiction and non-fiction books. Each selection has a tie to Nebraska, through the author, the setting or the general theme.
An anthology exposes the reader to a wide variety of styles of poetry. The variety allows everybody to find something they can to relate to. Most of the poetry is about regular people doing day to day activities.
“So this is Nebraska. A Sunday
afternoon; July. Driving along
with your hand out squeezing the air,
a meadowlark waiting on every post.”
by Ted Koozer (excerpted from “So This is Nebraska”)
“I kept thinking somebody could win
but I couldn’t find the starting line in that house.
All week I couldn’t find the flags
or the silver trophy or the posted rules of the game.”
by Marjorie Saiser (excerpted from “My Father Argued with my Mother”)
I would suggest “Nebraska Presence: An Anthology of Poetry” to poetry lovers and those wanting to participate in this year’s statewide literary conversation.
Our One Book One Nebraska program provides Nebraskans an opportunity to have a common conversation about literature if we all have read the same book. Humanities Nebraska with The Nebraska Center for the Book and several other entities have selected on book each year for 14 years. They have included classic and contemporary Nebraska authors as well as both fiction and non-fiction books. Each selection has a tie to Nebraska, through the author, the setting or the general theme.
An anthology exposes the reader to a wide variety of styles of poetry. The variety allows everybody to find something they can to relate to. Most of the poetry is about regular people doing day to day activities.
“So this is Nebraska. A Sunday
afternoon; July. Driving along
with your hand out squeezing the air,
a meadowlark waiting on every post.”
by Ted Koozer (excerpted from “So This is Nebraska”)
“I kept thinking somebody could win
but I couldn’t find the starting line in that house.
All week I couldn’t find the flags
or the silver trophy or the posted rules of the game.”
by Marjorie Saiser (excerpted from “My Father Argued with my Mother”)
I would suggest “Nebraska Presence: An Anthology of Poetry” to poetry lovers and those wanting to participate in this year’s statewide literary conversation.
January 31, 2017
I really enjoyed some of these poems; some of them confused me; and others I didn't like.
"words bathe me. I luxuriate in their bubbles"(Sarah Voss, 'Have you reached...' 153).
"just some west Nebraska town so small it's no more
than a stutter in the long silence of the prairie"(Susan Aizenberg, 'Debut' 30).
"On either side, those dear old ladies,
the loosening barns, their little windows
dulled by cataracts of hay and cobwebs
hide broken tractors under the skirts"(Ted Kooser, 'So This is Nebraska' 84).
'Mom, if you fall, it will be hard to get back up.
O, we all get back up until it's time not to.
Then someone else can breathe the dust
we used to breathe, shovel the snow
we no longer feel the weight of'(Mark Sanders, 'Talking November Weather, Long Distance, 132).
'You can come in the highway next to the cemetery,
where my great grandparents, Czech
grandparents, uncle and aunts, mother
and father, one cousin my age
remain-silent lookouts, cherishing
Plattsmouth's fragments in their
crumbling, letting go bones' (Barbara Schmitz, 'How to Get to Plattsmouth', 137).
Poems I like for future reference(I liked or to reread indepth):
'Modern Clothing' Grace Bauer
'Sea of Faith' John Brehm
'Snow on Far mountain' S.C. Hahn (??)
'Let There Be An End to Excuses' Greg Kuzma
'Unraveling' Charlene Neely
'At the North Edge of Town' Roy Scheele
"words bathe me. I luxuriate in their bubbles"(Sarah Voss, 'Have you reached...' 153).
"just some west Nebraska town so small it's no more
than a stutter in the long silence of the prairie"(Susan Aizenberg, 'Debut' 30).
"On either side, those dear old ladies,
the loosening barns, their little windows
dulled by cataracts of hay and cobwebs
hide broken tractors under the skirts"(Ted Kooser, 'So This is Nebraska' 84).
'Mom, if you fall, it will be hard to get back up.
O, we all get back up until it's time not to.
Then someone else can breathe the dust
we used to breathe, shovel the snow
we no longer feel the weight of'(Mark Sanders, 'Talking November Weather, Long Distance, 132).
'You can come in the highway next to the cemetery,
where my great grandparents, Czech
grandparents, uncle and aunts, mother
and father, one cousin my age
remain-silent lookouts, cherishing
Plattsmouth's fragments in their
crumbling, letting go bones' (Barbara Schmitz, 'How to Get to Plattsmouth', 137).
Poems I like for future reference(I liked or to reread indepth):
'Modern Clothing' Grace Bauer
'Sea of Faith' John Brehm
'Snow on Far mountain' S.C. Hahn (??)
'Let There Be An End to Excuses' Greg Kuzma
'Unraveling' Charlene Neely
'At the North Edge of Town' Roy Scheele
November 5, 2016
This is a selection of poems that was fun to read. My absolute favorites were "October" by Shirley Buettner which beautifully describes the mood and colors during my best-loved month, "So This is Nebraska" by Ted Kooser, a homage to the state the author has chosen to live in for over 40 years and "The Circle Dance" by Mary K. Stillwell which tells of an intriguing ritual during a Native American powwow.
April 25, 2009
This is a great selection of poetry, and not just Nebraska poetry. The diverse voices presented are a pleasure to read, running from funny to tear-jerking and back.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews