Poetry. WHAT DO I KNOW? gathers seventy-five poems from previously out of print books and new work by one of Minnesota's finest poets. "In 'Way Back,' John Rezmerski invites the reader to 'Turn around and come with me/ to the other end of our lives.' Do this and you'll discover less an end than a beginning, because time and again Rezmerski's freshness delights and surprises the reader into thought. His poems consistently and appropriately find their voices, from Popeye to Tarzan (one of my favorites) to the poet directly addressing his grandfather: 'Grandpa, if you had known God/ he would have protected you from yours.' Read these poems silently or aloud; either way they challenge as they sing"—William Kloefkorn.

Author City: MANKATO, MN USA

John Calvin Rezmerski's works comprise twenty books, chapbooks, and anthologies, including a screenplay and three plays, mingling humor, irony, and insight. The late author Carol Bly said, "Rezmerski drags us past all the easy answers...toward the major passions." He has performed his work for hundreds of audiences—for schools, libraries, clubs, professional organizations, senior centers, museums, festivals, fairs, coffee houses, bars, and on television and radio, including American Public Radio's Whad'Ya Know? Over a span of 35 years, he taught creative writing, journalism, literature, linguistics, science fiction, and storytelling at Gustavus Adolphus College. Bridging the gap between academic and community arts, he has collaborated with painters, sculptors, photographers, musicians, dancers, theatrical troupes and scientists. Awards he received include the Devins Award, a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship and the Rhysling Award of the Science Fiction Poetry Society. He serves as poet laureate of the League of Minnesota Poets.

Reviews and Other Links
Poems @ The Writer's Almanac with Garrison Keillor