New Letters on the Air: Missouri Poet Laureate Walter Bargen
Walter Bargen is the author of at least a dozen collections of poetry. Writing for decades under what he describes as a blanket of anonymity, this coordinator in the Assessment Resource Center of the University of Missouri’s College of Education was recently uncovered when Governor Blunt appointed him the first Poet Laureate of Missouri.

by Angela Elam, host of New Letters on the Air

Since Bargen took this new position, he's been traveling the state where he's lived most of his adult life, speaking at schools and libraries. He recently regaled a crowd about his adventures at the downtown Kansas City Public Library as part of "the Road to the Literary Festival," which takes place this weekend on the Plaza.

Walter Bargen, Missouri's first Poet Laureate, recorded by New Letters on the Air at the Kansas City Public Library. Bargen is back in town this Saturday, May 17, 2008, with a slew of other writers at the Kansas City Literary Festival on the Plaza. KCPT's Nick Haines will also chat with Walter Bargen over lunch at the Plaza III. New RSVP deadline!!! Noon on Friday, May 16th -- Call New Letters (816) 235-1168 or check here for more information.

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