Twyla M. Hansen (born 1949) is an American poet, who served as the Nebraska State Poet until 2018. She is the third Nebraskan and first woman to hold this position, to which she was appointed by Governor Dave Heineman in November 2013.
Life Hansen was raised near the town of Lyons in northeast Nebraska and currently lives in Lincoln. She holds a bachelor's degree in horticulture and a master's degree in agroecology from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. While working as grounds manager and arboretum curator at Nebraska Wesleyan University, Hansen took classes from poet William Kloefkorn, who became one of her mentors. Hansen was appointed to replace Kloefkorn as Nebraska State Poet after his death in 2011.
Awards 2004 Nebraska Book Award for Poetry (for Potato Soup) 2012 Nebraska Book Award - Nebraska Center for the Book (for Dirt Songs: A Plains Duet)
Selected publications
Books
Illustrated by Paul Johnsgard. With Linda Hasselstrom.
Anthologies
References
External links Biography at the Nebraska Center for Writers Biography, selected poetry, and scholarly essays at Poetry from the Plains Twyla Hansen and Paul Johnsgard's "Prairie Suite: A Celebration"