Midwest Poets Series: Missouri Poets

For the past 34 years, Rockhurst University has brought poets from around the country to do readings for the Kansas City public as part of the Midwest Poets Series. During this time, the series has hosted many different poets, including a few who live in Missouri, such as the state’s first poet laureate (2008-2010), Walter Bargen, who is the author of more than a dozen books; Michelle Boisseau, who teaches at UMKC and along with her five collections of poetry is the co-author of Writing Poems; and translator and 2016 Missouri poet laureate, Aliki Barnstone (shown), who teaches and edits the Cliff Becker Book Prize in Translation at the University of Missouri-Columbia. In this special program, the trio reads from their work while guests of the Midwest Poets Series and shares some insight into their varied poetic styles.