William Charles "Bill" Kloefkorn (August 12, 1932 – May 19, 2011),[1][2] was a
Nebraskapoet and educator based in
Lincoln, Nebraska. He was the author of twelve collections of poetry, two short story collections, a collection of children's Christmas stories, and four
memoirs. Additionally Kloefkorn was professor of English from 1962 [3] to his retirement in 1997 to
professor emeritus of English at
Nebraska Wesleyan University.
In 1982, Kloefkorn was appointed State Poet of Nebraska, a position roughly equivalent to
Poet Laureate. (In 1921, the
Nebraska Legislature permanently bestowed the title of Poet Laureate of Nebraska on
John Neihardt, who died in 1973. A successor to this title has not been named.) Kloefkorn died in
Lincoln, Nebraska. He was succeeded as State Poet by his student
Twyla Hansen in 2013.[4]
In addition to his literary honors, Kloefkorn boasted that he won first place in the 1978 Nebraska Hog-Calling Championship.[1]
An elementary school in Lincoln is named after Kloefkorn.[2]
Selected publications
Poetry
Alvin Turner As Farmer (Windflower Press, 1972) - reissued by Logan House Press in 2005
Uncertain the Final Run to Winter (Windflower Press, 1974)
Loony (Issued as: APPLE: NO. 10/11, 1975)
Not Such a Bad Place to Be (Copper Canyon Press, 1980)
Platte Valley Homestead (Platte Valley Press, 1981)
Collecting for the Wichita Beacon (Platte Valley Press, 1984);
OCLC13189843
Drinking the Tin Cup Dry (White Pine Press, 1989)
Where the Visible Sun Is (Spoon River Poetry Press, 1989)
Going Out, Coming Back (White Pine Press, 1995)
Welcome to Carlos (Spoon River Poetry Press, 2000)
Loup River Psalter (Spoon River Poetry Press, 2001)
Sergeant Patrick Gass, Chief Carpenter (Spoon River Poetry Press, 2002) Verse written by Kloefkorn in the voice of Sergeant
Patrick Gass, chief carpenter on the
Lewis and Clark Expedition based on research into the expedition and the journal kept by Sergeant Gass himself
I Screwed A Pig and It Liked It (The Backwaters Press, 2007)