Best-selling poet Kate Baer has struck a chord with her fans

• Scott LaMar
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  Scott LaMar has worked in both radio and television for more than four decades.
  
  Currently, LaMar is the Host and Executive Producer of The Spark program on WITF-FM, 89.5 & 93.3 in Harrisburg, Pa.
  
  Previously, LaMar was WITF TV’s Sr. Public Affairs producer and produced the station’s award-winning weekly public affairs TV program, Smart Talk.
  
  In addition to his on-air duties, LaMar has moderated political candidate debates, including those for candidates running for Pennsylvania governor and the U.S. Senate and was a regular contributor to BBC World News TV before and after the 2020 U.S. Presidential election.
  
  LaMar often emcees or moderates local events and has gone as far as California to emcee a national event.
  
  The American Society of Civil Engineers honored LaMar with their national Excellence in Journalism award in 2020. He has been nominated for five Mid-Atlantic Emmy Awards.
  
  LaMar and The Spark have been recognized throughout the Central Pennsylvania community including ADVOZ Lancaster’s “Dignity in Dialogue Award”, the South-Central Assembly’s “Regional Citizen Award” and was named a “Humanitarian Hero” by The Humane Society of the United States/Pennsylvania.
  
  A native of Coatesville, Pa., LaMar has also worked as a broadcast news anchor, sports play-by-play announcer and manager.

Airdate: January 17, 2023

Over the past three years, Kate Baer, who lives in Lancaster with her husband and four children, has become one of the nation’s most popular poets.

Her poems, that often are about motherhood, children and many other issues in the world, have struck a chord. All three of Kate Baer’s books of poetry have reached the top of the New York Times’ best-seller list.

Her latest book – And Yet Poems – is WITF and the Midtown Scholar Bookstore’s Pick-of-the-Month for January. Kate Baer was on The Spark Tuesday to discuss what makes her poems unique.

Baer told The Spark that most of her poems come from her personal experiences,”There have been many women who have paved the way for me to be able to write about these sort of things. A lot of women of color, actually, Audre Lorde is one of them who was writing about this decades ago. Sharon Olds is a wonderful poet as well, who is kind of tackling these day to day things. And I think when women, especially women read poetry like this, not just mine, and be able to see themselves reflected back, I think that’s part of why these books have been so popular. I meet women all the time on my book tours who say I never saw myself in books before until I read your work. And that, to me, is the best compliment. And I think you know what people are looking for.”

Baer’s poems are often about topics that some may find uncomfortable like body image, mass shooting or sex. Why does she choose those issues to write about? “I think just my personality. I’m not really afraid to tackle those things in real life either. I’m not someone who loves surface conversations. Most people said they don’t like small talk. It really makes my skin crawl. So I think a lot of that just comes from my own personality. And then the other part of that is I really love the the idea that to write what you want to read and I don’t really want to read surface poetry or watch all my favorite books and movies and TV shows are the ones that are willing to take risks and what they talk about. And so I try to write in the same way, because when you’re willing to take the risk to tackle some of those things, that’s that’s where the good stuff is.”