Poet John Koethe taught at UW-Milwaukee for more than 35 years, where he served as a distinguished professor of philosophy. True to form, his poems combine existential, introspective questioning with a keen attention to language and word usage. Koethe has published more than a dozen books of original poetry during his illustrious career, and many of his best pieces have been collected in the new anthology Walking Backwards: Poems 1966-2016.
Despite being born on the West Coast and educated at Princeton and Harvard, Koethe embraced life in Wisconsin and adopted a humble Midwestern charm in his writing that illuminates his poems with universal tenderness and broad appeal. In this collection, readers travel through space and time with John as he explores his own experiences and questions the relevance of our universal existence. Despite an unapologetic bleakness, Koethe’s stories both embrace and highlight the communal ties that connect our human experience. Rich descriptions and vivid memories capture both the bitter sorrows and elusive moments of joy that define life as art.
Milwaukee honored Koethe in 2000 as the city’s inaugural Poet Laureate. He has also received fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as a lifetime achievement award from the Council for Wisconsin Writers. Koethe will speak at Boswell Book Co. at 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 30.
