Poem by St. Paul native Boss sets the tone for Father's Day

Today is Father's Day, and Todd Boss' poem, "This Morning in a Morning Voice," is a lovely way to mark the occasion.

The poem first appeared in Poetry magazine and today has been reprinted in the weekly "American Life in Poetry" column written by poet laureate Ted Kooser.

Kooser writes, "Sometimes, it's merely the sound of a child's voice in a nearby room that makes a parent feel immensely lucky. To celebrate Father's Day, here's a joyful poem of fatherhood by Todd Boss, who lives in St. Paul, Minn."

Read the poem at www.americanlifeinpoetry.org/current.html

And to hear Boss read his poem aloud, go here.

Also ...

• "Stalking Susan," the mystery by Julie Kramer, is out in paperback this month and she'll be doing a book signing at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Best of Times Bookstore in Red Wing, Minn. Her second mystery, "Missing Mark," comes out in July.

• Kelly Easton, who teaches in the Writing for Children and Young Adults MFA program at Hamline University in St. Paul, has a new book out with Wendy Lamb Books of Random House. "The Outlandish Adventures of Liberty Aimes" is a Junior Literary Guild selection.

• J.P. White of Deephaven has a book coming out in September with Permanent Press. "Every Boat Turns South," his first novel, is about a boat captain trying to outrun his past. White is a recipient of a Bush Artist Fellowship and a Loft/McKnight award for his poetry.

• "Sometimes We're Always Real Same-Same," a debut novel by Mattox Roesch, will be published this fall by Unbridled Books. Roesch, of Alaska, lived in Minneapolis for 10 years. His stories have been published in Missouri Review and elsewhere.

• "Rattletrap Car," the much-loved classic picture book by the prolific Phyllis Root of Minneapolis, has been republished in gigantic format by Candlewick Press. Actually, the technical term that Candlewick uses isn't gigantic, it's "big book" -- a series of books big enough and lively enough to be read aloud to a crowd of little rugrats.

• The University of Notre Dame Press has published the history "Pilgrims to the Northland: The Archdiocese of St. Paul, 1840-1962," by Marvin R. O'Connell.

• Greg Mulcahy, who teaches at Century College in White Bear Lake, has won the Juniper Award for Fiction from the University of Massachusetts Press for his short story collection "Carbine," which will be published next spring.

• Children's book author Katie McKy of Eau Claire, Wis., has a new picture book out. "Wolf Camp," illustrated by Bonnie Leick of Milwaukee, was published by Tanglewood Books.