Walter Bargen is the Poet Laureate of Missouri, the first person to hold that post since its creation by Governor Matt Blunt in January, 2008. He has published numerous books of poems: Fields of Thenar, Mysteries in the Public Domain, Yet Other Waters, The Vertical River, Rising Water: Reflections on the Year of the Great Flood, At The Dead Center Of Day, Water Breathing Air, Harmonic Balance, Feast: Prose Poem Sequences, Remedies for Vertigo, and Theban Traffic. His poetry and fiction have appeared in over one hundred magazines, including American Literary Review, American Letters & Commentary, Beloit Poetry Journal, Denver Quarterly, Georgia Review, International Quarterly, Missouri Review, New Letters, New Novel Review, Pleiades, Poetry Northwest, River Styx, Seneca Review, Sycamore Review, and Witness. He is the recipient of a National Endowment for theArts poetry fellowship (1991); winner of the Quarter After Eight Prose Prize (1996), the Hanks Prize (1996), and the Chester H. Jones Foundation poetry prize (1997).
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Links:
Beirut Reading Audio Clip (MP3 audio file)
Civilized Sacrifice Reading Audio Clip (MP3 audio file)
Icebound Reading Audio Clip (MP3 audio file)
“Map to the Party” Audio Clip (MP3 audio file)
New Letters on the Air: Missouri Poet Laureate Walter Bargen – KCUR radio interview with Walter Bargen
Poetry gets wings: Missouri’s first-ever poet laureate will spread the word – MizzouWire interview with video.
An Interview with Walter Bargen, First Poet Laureate of Missouri – from BkMk Press
Arts on Monday: A talk with Missouri’s Poet Laureate, Ashland native Walter Bargen – Thinking Out Loud interview in MP3 audio format
Words of Joyful Power – Walter Bargen interviewed by Annie Nelson. Includes a number of MP3 audio clips
Missouri’s first poet laureate moves poetry toward the center of society – St. Louis Beacon article by Elia Powers
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Poems On-Line:
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Video:
