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The Blizzard Voices
by
Ted Kooser,
Tom Pohrt
This book is a collection of poems recording the devastation unleashed on the Great Plains by the blizzard of January 12, 1888. The Blizzard Voices is based on the actual reminiscences of the survivors as recorded in documents from the time and written reminiscences from years later. Here are the haunting voices of the men and women who were teaching school, working the la...more
Paperback, 64 pages
Published
September 1st 2006
by UNP - Bison Books
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"A collection of poems recording the devastation unleashed on the Great Plains by the blizzard of January 12, 1888." says the copy on the back of the book. That doesn't begin to do justice to the narratives captured within this slim volume, accompanied by poignant line drawings by Tom Pohrt. Normally, I shy away from any poetry that comes with illustration, feeling that often, unless it's a children's book, the illustration is a signal that the poetry within is not up to snuff and need...more
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Beautifully done. These poems are based on the experiences of men and women who lived through the "Schoolhouse Blizzard" of 1888 on the Great Plains. Each poem comes from a different anonymous speaker, and the collection is best read aloud. Kooser's individual voices capture the disorientation that must have come from such a storm. Here are characters in different towns and states, trapped in one blinding torrent of snow. Some are separated from each other by hundreds of miles, bu...more
This book is part narrative, part poetry. The voices are memories from the great blizzard of 1888. Kooser says he grew up hearing his elderly relatives recount their memories of this blizzard, and he drew from those and accounts published at the time to distill down some of the essential images. One of the most vivid images for me was how a cow's tail froze sideways. And towards the end of the book there is brief vignette about a turkey who had been buried for weeks in the ice, yet survived by e...more
One of my favorite moments from teaching at Silver Lake College happened while reading this book. My advanced poetry class gathered in the balcony of Generose Center and on a stage strewn with dead flies (it hadn't been cleaned in a while) we did a choral reading from this work. Individually the poems don't stand up well, but as a collective work The Blizzard Voices evokes an epic storm and a time out of memory.
This book made me re-think poetry, and what the art form can do. Kooser's poems about a blizzard over a century ago brought the time and the people to life in a way that no novel or history tome could do. I had thought I wasn't really a poetry person, but now I realize I just wasn't reading the right poems.
These poems, harvested from archival records of the great Nebraska blizzard of 1888 known as the Schoolchildren's Blizzard, are masterfully told in alternating narratives only identified as "A Woman's Voice" and "A Man's Voice". Ted Kooser brings these memories to life in all their tragedy and mundanity.
I enjoyed Kooser's concise writing. Simple, direct and, as usual, poignant. This book is a very short collection of brief poems inspired by the recollections of people who endured the Great Blizzard of 1888. Read it and be reminded of the howl of the cold Nebraska wind.
Kooser's poetry is simple, direct and compelling. These voices from 1888 are wholly believable. This is not academic. It is real life. I read it straight through.
I really like Kooser's work. Since I am a born and bred Nebraskan too, I can relate to the images he writes about in his poetry and prose.
Wonderful book of poems based on collected memories of 'the great blizzard' in 1888 (on the Great Plains).
I found this one to be very interesting. Am intrigued to see how this was adapted for the stage. (I am imagining a somewhat disconnected series of monologues...)
I know that it is a financial gamble to publish a collection of poetry in the U.S., so it is almost a taboo subject to speak of the financial "worth" of a poetry collection, but this collection is very, very short...
I liked many of the poems. I did not find myself to be a fan of the small illustration...more
I know that it is a financial gamble to publish a collection of poetry in the U.S., so it is almost a taboo subject to speak of the financial "worth" of a poetry collection, but this collection is very, very short...
I liked many of the poems. I did not find myself to be a fan of the small illustration...more
The book is made up of reminiscences in poetry form of individuals who experienced the "Blizzard of 1886," sometimes known as the Schoolchildren's Blizzard. The winter storm was given this name because so many students and teachers were stranded in rural schoolhouses.
Not as great as Kooser's other works, probably because he is telling someone else's story rather than his own. I still enjoyed this though because that blizzard is a fascinating story from ANYONE's perspective!
What a powerful little volume. These poems made the voices from the Children's Blizzard of 1888 on the Great Plains very real and vivid.
Kooser took the stories from people who survived a great blizzard in the 1880's on the plains.
This would make a great reader's theatre script!
Beautiful, as all Kooser writing is.
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Ted Kooser lives in rural Nebraska with his wife, Kathleen, and three dogs. He is one of America's most noted poets, having served two terms as U. S. Poet Laureate and, during the second term, he won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for his collection, DELIGHTS & SHADOWS. He is a retired life insurance executive who now teaches part-time at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. The school board in L...more
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