Kind of a Big Deal

These are the facts: Tonight at 7, former three-term U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky will read at Rockhurst University as part of the Midwest Poets Series. He is the author of 21 books of poetry, prose and essays; has translated Dante and Czeslaw Milosz; and has been on The Simpsons and The Colbert Report. These are opinions: Pinsky is a rock star, perhaps the best American poet alive. His heart beats in iambs, and his hair probably grows metaphors. He is awesome. The reading will be held in the university’s Convocation Center (54th Street and Troost, 816-501-4607). Admission is $3, although no one will be turned away for an inability to pay.

Thu., Oct. 22, 7 p.m., 2009