Selecting a Reader

“Selecting a Reader” illustrates Ted Kooser’s participation in a movement that aims to demystify poetry. Along with other American poets like Billy Collins and Dana Gioia, Kooser writes poems for people who are not academics nor poets themselves. “Selecting a Reader” demonstrates Kooser’s awareness of how small space poetry actually occupies in American culture. He knocks poetry off its pedestal, as his speaker imagines the woman placing the book back on the shelf and choosing a clean raincoat over a book of poems.

In an undated interview with Reunion, Kooser notes that many poets “think more about expressing themselves than inviting readers into what one writes” (Interview with Ted Kooser. Reunion.). As with Collins and Gioia, Kooser practices a poetics that prioritizes self-expression that recenters the reader. Whereas modernist poets like Wallace Stevens (1879-1955) and postmodern poets like John Ashbery (1927-2017) create dense, code-like poems, Kooser strives to produce simple work that does not require a guide or an advanced degree.

Kooser’s poem is a part of a larger canon of poems created from images of disparate women. In “Selecting a Reader,” Kooser presents a crisp and sharp picture of the woman character, describing her damp hair, her raincoat, and her financial strain.