Well-known radio show host Garrison Keillor recently read Dr. Jane Hoogestraat‘s poem “At the Edge of a Time Zone” on his program Writer’s Almanac.
Keillor, of “A Prairie Home Companion” fame, read Hoogestraat’s poem on his August 2 program (poem starts at 2:50). The poem is from her award-winning book “Border States,” published in December 2014.
Poetry collection inspired by rural upbringing
“Border States” is a 72-page poetry collection that was inspired by her experiences growing up in rural South Dakota: “I’ve been writing poetry for a number of years, and I discovered more and more that I was writing about cultural geography. That’s how the landscape and culture of a place influences people in ways that they’re not even always aware of.
“I discovered a few years ago that I had enough poems that were place-based, so I started working to put them together in a collection.”
The book was published as a winner of the John Ciardi Prize for Poetry by BkMk Press, a University of Missouri-Kansas City press. Hoogestraat also received a $1,000 award.