Composed during long walks throughout Washington, DC, and careful to err on the side of recklessness, Rough Day finds its essential unity in a fixation on American events and landscapes—from Yellowstone and New Orleans to Kansas and the Pacific Northwest. Throughout, Ed Skoog maintains an openness to discovery that unveils rare and prismatic views into his country. A native of Topeka, Kansas, Ed Skoog's first book of poetry, Mister Skylight (Copper Canyon Press), was published in...
• Skoog is well-connected younger poet • Published in a dizzying range of magazines and journals, from Poetry to Forklift, Ohio • Skoog owns a house in New Orleans, and was out of town when Hurricane Katrina hit. “I was at the Bread Loaf Writers Conference when the storm was gathering,” he notes, “Those were the worst days of my life.” He still owns the house in New Orleans, “to retain a stake in the city.”...
• Skoog’s work has appeared in Poetry, American Poetry Review, The Paris Review, and Ploughshares.• Skoog is a rare voice from the periphery of academic circles. He’s taught in both colleges and high schools, and he’s led workshops for graduate students as well as the homeless.• Skoog plays a mean banjo, and there are lots of musical references throughout the book, from the Grateful Dead and the Macarena to Alex Chilton.• Because Skoog has lived in so many places and has become active in many...
