Achieving the honorable title of Poet Laureate may sound like the final word of praise a poet can receive for his or her work. But Monday, Poet Laureate Ted Kooser found even more was in store when he heard that he won a Pulitzer Prize.

“My first reaction was complete surprise, then complete befuddlement and then I guess joy,” says Kooser, a professor at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln.

“I had no idea it was even in the works.”

Kooser was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his most recent poetry compilation, “Delights and Shadows.”

This accolade comes only one year after Kooser was named the figurehead of American poetry — the U.S. Poet Laureate.

Neil Nakadate, professor of English, was paying attention to the Pulitzer proceedings and wasn’t surprised.

“I wasn’t totally surprised because I had read his most recent book and it was good poetry and good Kooser,” he says.

He says a “good Kooser” is characterized by a rural Midwestern setting and an accessible unpretentious approach to poetry.

“The language is very conversation, very down to earth,” he says. “Kooser is not one of those poets who constantly sends you to the dictionary.”

Debra Marquart, director of the ISU Center for Excellence in the Arts and Humanities, says she is not surprised Kooser was awarded another honor in conjunction with the title of Poet Laureate.

“The Pulitzer is given for the best book of poetry in a given year, [while] the Poet Laureate is awarded for a life’s work,” she says. “I have to believe that they think that this is the best book of poetry this year.”

Marquart says Kooser’s eye for nature is one factor that sets him apart.

“I like his attention to the natural world; he begins many of his poems by invoking the natural world. He is very spiritual — not only in poetry, but also in his prose,” she says.

Kooser’s rural approach to poetry has its roots in his Iowa upbringing.

He was born in Ames and graduated from Iowa State before moving to Nebraska.

Both states have become frequent backgrounds for Kooser’s poems as well as a book of prose entitled “Local Wonders.”

The poet’s easy-to-understand language and subject matter are major reasons he has achieved so much success, Nakadate says.

“Kooser makes you feel comfortable reading him, you don’t feel put off,” he says.

“I think he has been embraced by people that might not read other poets.”

Nakadate says Kooser’s taste for everyday people and locals does not mean that his poetry lacks the deeper understanding that readers look for in poetry.

“He is a serious poet but along with that he is friendly, he is tolerant and he is patient, and I think that really comes out in his work.”

The recognition of Kooser’s work has opened a new audience to him, Kooser says.

“I guess people are taking me more seriously as a writer,” Kooser says.

“I have noticed more people are interested in me.”