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National poet laureate cancels Pasco reading

Other published poets take Ted Kooser's seat for an event this Saturday.

By LISA BUIE
Published April 26, 2006

Pasco won't be getting a visit from a national poet laureate after all, but the show will go on with other renowned writers.

U.S. Poet Laureate Ted Kooser, who was scheduled to do a reading Saturday in Wesley Chapel, canceled his appearance after his wife was diagnosed with breast cancer, said Janet Watson, co-chairperson for the event and a member of the New River Poets group. However, he will be there in the form of a video.

"We won't get him in person, but we'll get him larger than life," she said.

Filling in for Kooser are poets Gerald Stern and Peter Meinke, who will share their work. Stern, the first poet laureate of New Jersey and a chancellor of the Academy of American Poets, is the author of 14 books of poetry. He has received many awards and in 2005 was chosen to receive the Wallace Stevens Award for mastery in poetry.

Meinke is a professor emeritus of Eckerd College in St. Petersburg and the past director of the Eckerd College Writing Workshop. His reviews, poems and stories have appeared in periodicals such as the Atlantic, the New Yorker and New Republic. His collection of short stories, The Piano Tuner, won the 1986 FlanneryO'Connor Award.

The event begins at 7:30 p.m. and will be held at the Center for the Arts at Wesley Chapel, 3061 Wells Road. Admission is free, but reservations are recommended. Call (813) 782-2831 or (813) 994-8374 for information.

The event is sponsored by Saint Leo University, New River Poets, the Frank and Carol Morsani Foundation, the Pasco County School District, Saddlebrook Resort, Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce, Wesley Chapel Toyota and the St. Petersburg Times.

[Last modified April 26, 2006, 01:22:18]