While the High Plains may at first blush seem stark and unwelcoming, especially to outsiders, many longtime residents and those who grew up here can – and often do – recognize a deep beauty about the area.
Join our own Jenny Inzerillo as she presents HPPR’s new series, Poets on the Plains. This series features conversations with a collection of poet hosts from all across the High Plains and airs during the 11:00 AM hour on High Plains Morning. The new series will feature poets laureate from Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, and Colorado sharing their perspectives and works about their relationship with the High Plains. Poets on the Plains will feature works from notable area poets through weekly “HPPR PoetryBytes.” You can find printed and audio versions of each PoetryByte on our website, or tune in live on your local dial or streaming on HPPR.org.
The debut installment of Poets on the Plains, which aired on April 3, 2025 featured Kansas poet laureate Traci Brimhall; the inaugural PoetryByte was also accompanied by a conversation with Jenny Inzerillo. To hear that interview, click the link at the top of this page.
They talked about the great beauty contained in our skies, how the openness of the area can often paradoxically bring people closer together, the other poets who will feature on the program, what it means to be a poet on the High Plains, and how the area informs their own perspectives and art.
From the sweeping treeless vistas, to the big, ever-changing skies that are equal parts serene and awe-inspiring, to the interesting personalities and stories of the people who call this unique part of the world home, Poets on the Plains will bring attention to our sense of place.
