Oct. 26, Thursday -- Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Ted Kooser will give a public reading and answer questions on his art during a visit to UC Davis. Kooser was the U.S. poet laureate from 2004 to 2006, ending his term this fall. Similar to Connecticut poet/insurance executive Wallace Stevens, Kooser spent his career in the insurance business while writing poetry on the side. He retired as vice president of Lincoln Benefit Life Co. in Nebraska and is now an English professor at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. Kooser's honors include two NEA fellowships in poetry, a Pushcart Prize, the Stanley Kunitz Prize from Columbia and a Merit Award from the Nebraska Arts Council. Sponsored by the Davis Humanities Institute, Kooser's visit is free to the public. It is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. in Wyatt Pavilion Theatre on campus.