Born in Ames, Iowa, in 1939, Kooser earned a BS at Iowa State University in 1962 and the MA at the University of Nebraska in 1968. He is the author of twelve collection.

Poetry:Official Entry Blank, University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, 1969

A Local Habitation & A Name, Solo Press, San Luis Obispo, 1974

Not Coming to be Barked At, Pentagram Press, Milwaukee, 1976

Sure Signs, University of Pittsburgh Press, 1980

One World at a Time, University of Pittsburgh Press, 1985

The Blizzard Voices, Bieler Press, St. Paul, 1986. Reprinted in 2006 by University of Nebraska Press

Weather Central, University of Pittsburgh Press, 1994

Winter Morning Walks; 100 Postcards to Jim Harrison, Carnegie Mellon University Press, 2000

Braided Creek, with Jim Harrison. Copper Canyon Press, 2003

Delights and Shadows. Copper Canyon Press, 2004

Flying at Night, University of Pittsburgh Press, 2005

Valentines, University of Nebraska Press, 2007

Splitting an Order, Copper Canyon Press, 2014