2011 ONE BOOK ONE NEBRASKA: Local Wonders: Seasons in the Bohemian Alps

One Book One Nebraska 2011 invites citizens across the state to read Local Wonders: Seasons in the Bohemian Alps (University of Nebraska Press, 2002) by Ted Kooser, of Garland, Nebraska. Kooser is one of America’s most highly regarded poets and served as the United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004 – 2006. He is the author of numerous full-length collections of poetry, including the 2005 Pulitzer Prize-winning Delights and Shadows (Copper Canyon Press, 2004). Kooser’s first book of prose, Local Wonders: Seasons in the Bohemian Alps (University of Nebraska Press, 2002), won the Nebraska Book Award for Nonfiction in 2003 and Third Place in the Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Award in Nonfiction for 2002. The book was chosen as the Best Book Written by a Midwestern Writer for 2002 by Friends of American Writers. It also won the Gold Award for Autobiography in ForeWord Magazine’s Book of the Year Awards. In Local Wonders, Kooser describes with exquisite detail and humor the place he calls home in the rolling hills of southeastern Nebraska—an area known as the Bohemian Alps. Nothing is too big or too small for his attention. Memories of his grandmother’s cooking are juxtaposed with reflections about the old-fashioned outhouse on his property. After receiving nominations from across the state, the Nebraska Center for the Book board announced Local Wonders as Nebraska’s statewide reading choice at Saturday’s Celebration of Nebraska Books in Lincoln. One Book One Nebraska 2011 is sponsored by a coalition of organizations including the Nebraska Center for the Book, Nebraska Humanities Council, Nebraska Library Association, Nebraska Library Commission, and University of Nebraska Press. Libraries across Nebraska will join the Nebraska Center for the Book and other literary and cultural organizations in planning book discussions, activities, and events that will encourage Nebraskans to read and discuss this book. As they are developed, support materials to assist with local reading/discussion activities will be available at http://centerforthebook.nebraska.gov/programs/onebook.html. Updates and activity listings will be made on the One Book One Nebraska Facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=281641340948. For more information contact Mary Jo Ryan, Nebraska Library Commission Communications Coordinator, 402-471-3434, 800-307-2665.