The Fiddling Poet

Ken Waldman, Alaska’s Fiddling Poet, appears at the St. Mary Parish Library Summer Reading Program this week. Waldman’s nine CDs of old-time Appalachian-style string-band music include two for children. His eight books consist of six full-length poetry collections, a memoir about his life as a touring artist, and a volume of acrostic poems for kids. A former college professor with an MFA in creative writing, he’s been named a visiting writer at more than 80 colleges and universities, a visiting artist at more than 200 schools in 32 states and has led workshops from Alaska to Maine. As a performer, he’s played the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage and Berkeley’s Freight and Salvage, occasionally as a soloist, more often as leader of one his ever-changing troupes of nationally recognized musicians. Waldman will perform at the Baldwin branch Wednesday at 10 a.m. and the Franklin branch Thursday at 10 a.m.