About 650 people gathered Thursday in the Great Hall of the Memorial Union for a poetry reading by 2005 Pulitzer Prize winner and U.S. poet laureate Ted Kooser.

This was Kooser’s first-ever poetry reading in his hometown, and he shared many of his poems with the audience, explaining why he wrote them. Kooser grew up in Ames and lived near 9th Street and Duff Avenue until he was 16 years old, when he moved to Marston Avenue. He graduated from Iowa State in 1962 and received his master’s degree at the University of Nebraska.

“I write a lot of poems about ordinary things and try to make them special,” Kooser said.

He said he tries to make his poems easy to understand, sometimes revising a short poem 40 or 50 times.

“I move away from difficulty toward simplicity,” Kooser said. “Like a really good watercolor painting.”

He drew laughs from the crowd when talking about the poem “Student.”

“He was too much like a giant sea tortoise to resist,” Kooser said about a student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln who was wearing a large green backpack walking toward the library.

Kooser is a visiting professor in Nebraska’s English department, and said he encourages his students to read 100 poems for every one they attempt to write.

“That’s how you get good at anything,” Kooser said.

When he began writing poems 50 years ago for his high school sweetheart, Kooser said he was more attracted to acting like a poet than actually writing poetry.

“I tried to grow a beard, but it looked really awful,” Kooser said during an informal meeting Thursday evening with the English club. “I would walk around with these really heavy books under my arm trying to look really serious.”

The couple broke up and Kooser said she burned his early poetry, which was a “terrible blessing.”

“The romance of being a poet dropped, and I got attached to writing,” he said.

Kooser has since published 10 collections of poetry and received a number of awards.

He said many of his poems begin in the Midwest and draw from his experiences in Iowa and Nebraska.

“Reading Ted Kooser made me remember why I became a poet to begin with,” said Sheryl St. Germain, associate professor of English and director of the ISU Center for Excellence in the Arts and Humanities. “I am inspired by his rootedness of place — this place.”

Kooser was named the 13th U.S. poet laureate in 2004 and received the 2005 Pulitzer Prize in poetry for his book “Delights & Shadows.”

The U.S. poet laureate attempts to advance poetry in U.S. society.

“Most often, a poem for me will start with something that isn’t even an idea,” Kooser said. “I have no idea where a poem is going until it’s underway.”

Dale Voorhees, professor emeritus of business, said he is always interested in hearing distinguished speakers and learning about recognized literature.

“I think it’s a great recognition for Iowa State,” Voorhees said. “It is a wonderful performance and a great credit to Iowa State to have someone of his standing here.”