Named U.S. Poet Laureate for 2004-2006, Ted Kooser is one of America's masters of the short metaphorical poem. Dana Gioia has remarked that Kooser has written more perfect poems than any poet of his generation.In<i>Flying at Night: Poems 1965-1985</i>, Kooser has selected poems from two of his earlier works,<i>Sure Signs</i> (1980) and<i>One World at a Time</i> (1985). Taken together or read one at a time, these poems clearly show why William Cole, writing in the<i>Saturday Review</i>, called Ted Kooser"a wonderful poet," and why Peter Stitt, writing in the<i>Georgia Review</i>, proclaimed him"a skilled and cunning writer. . . . An authentic'poet of the American people.'"

Ted Kooser was born in Ames, Iowa, in 1939. He was educated in the Ames public schools, at Iowa State University, and the University of Nebraska. His awards include two National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships, the Stanley Kunitz Prize from Columbia magazine, and the 1981 Society of Midland Authors Award for Poetry for Sure Signs. His poems have appeared in many magazines including theAntioch Review, theHudson Review, and theKenyon Review.