Award-winning poet Ed Skoog has a way with words. So, don’t be surprised if you’re inspired to try your hand at poetry writing after listening to him read from his new book, “Mister Skylight,” at the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library.

“The Topeka poems are mostly about people I’ve lost, times and places that I’ve lost,” he said. “The New Orleans poems are about the losing of a city. Topeka’s had its share of disasters too - the 1951 Kansas River flood, the 1966 tornado. Those stories were the frame I had for understanding the flooding of New Orleans.”

The Topeka native lived in New Orleans for eight years, moving out of the Crescent City just 10 days before Hurricane Katrina struck.

Skoog’s poetry reading is scheduled for 2pm Sunday, Sept. 27 in the Topeka Room. A book signing will follow. Books will be sold at the event.

Skoog spent 15 years writing poems for “Mister Skylight,” which comes out this month.

He said his greatest accomplishment with this book was finding some way to talk about contemporary American life, including his own experiences.

“The joy of making poetry is like the joy of painting or sculpting, or any sort of art making,” he said. “It’s a joy to write. It’s a nice way to create meaning.”

The now-Seattle, Wash., resident chose the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library to debut his poems not only because of his Topeka roots but also because of his memories of the library.

“I lived pretty close to the library, and it’s sort of been the center of learning in my life. So, it’s a very important place for me.”

The book’s title, “Mister Skylight,” is taken from an emergency signal used on ships to alert crewmembers of an emergency.

Copper Canyon Press only publishes about eight poetry books a year, he said, and his was among the books the company chose for publication this year.

Skoog has received the Poetry Prize from the Pirate’s Alley William Faulkner Society and the Lyric Poetry Award from the Poetry Society of America, and he holds a one-year visiting fellowship position as the Jenny McKean Moore Writer-In-Washington at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

He holds degrees from Kansas State and the University of Montana. His poems have been published in Poetry, American Poetry Review, The Paris Review, The New Republic and Ploughshares.

To read excperts from his new book, log on to www.edskoog.com/excerpts.html.