Floyd Skloot: "Labor Day Party"

The Poem of the Week is “Labor Day Party” by Floyd Skloot, which appeared in the Spring/Summer 2002 issue (Volume III, Number 2) of Valparaiso Poetry Review.

Floyd Skloot has published twelve books of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. He was a recipient of the 1996 William Stafford Award, the 2004 PEN Center USA Literary Award in Creative Nonfiction, and the 2004 Independent Publishers Book Award in Creative Nonfiction. He has published five collections of poetry: Music Appreciation (University Presses of Florida, 1994), The Evening Light (Story Line Press, 2001), The Fiddler’s Trance (Bucknell University Press, 2001), Approximately Paradise (Tupelo Press, 2005), and The End of Dreams (Louisiana State University Press, 2006). The Evening Light received the 2001 Oregon Book Award.

His works also have appeared in numerous literary journals, including American Scholar, The Atlantic Monthly, Harper’s, Hudson Review, Michigan Quarterly Review, The New York Times Magazine, Poetry, Shenandoah, and The Southern Review. Virginia Quarterly Review awarded him the Emily Clark Balch Prize in Poetry for 2000, and one of his poems appeared in The Best Spiritual Writing 2001. In addition, he has published novels, memoirs, and a book of essays about the illness experience. Some of his essays have been included in The Best American Essays, The Art of the Essay, and The Best American Science Writing.

Tuesday of each week “One Poet’s Notes” highlights an exceptional work by a poet selected from the archives of Valparaiso Poetry Review with the recommendation that readers revisit it. Please check the sidebar to view the list of poets and works that have been past “Poem of the Week” selections. Additionally, readers are reminded that VPR pages are best read with the browser font preference in which they were set, 12 pt. Times New Roman, in order to guarantee the stanza alignment and the breaks of longer lines are preserved.