Poetry. DAYS LIKE THIS ARE NECESSARY includes new poems as well as highlights from the 13-book career of Walter Bargen, first poet laureate of Missouri. Kevin Prufer writes in his foreword to the book, "His work is technically sophisticated, rhythmically subtle, and emotionally complex, but--and here's the trick--it's also the kind of poetry that one might offer to someone who says he doesn't like poetry much, someone who says he doesn't `get' poetry, someone who prefers mysteries or history books or biographies.... In a perfect world, this book will go a long way toward bringing Walter Bargen's poetry to the much wider audience it deserves."

Author City: ASHLAND, MO USA

Walter Bargen has published twelve books and two chapbooks of poetry. His poems have recently appeared in the Beloit Poetry Journal, Poetry East, Seattle Review, and New Letters. He has won the William Rockhill Nelson Award, the Chester H. Jones Foundation Prize, and a National Endowment for the Art Fellowship. In 2008, he was appointed to be the first poet laureate of Missouri. He lives in Ashland, Missouri, with his wife, Bobette, twenty cats, and one dog. His website is www.walterbargen.com.

Reviews and Other Links
http://www.walterbargen.com/
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/entertainment/reviews.nsf/book/story/CEB799BE07A25A9C8625769100010122?OpenDocument