Ken Waldman, Alaska's Fiddling Poet, combines old-time string-band music with a book release of Donald Trump-inspired satirical poetry.

Waldman will read from his two collections of Donald Trump-inspired poetry, Trump Sonnets Volumes 1 and 2, inspired by the presidency of Donald J. Trump, tell stories, play music with invited guests and discuss how he came to write the collection. Waldman also shares the sometimes colorful reactions he’s received from his work from audiences across the country. The show is part traditional roots music concert, part literary reading, part storytelling experience, and part interactive theater experiment. The performance is an opportunity for Waldman to enter into a dialogue with his audience, creating a deep exploration of current events in these historic times.

“You make George W. seem a statesman – your opening trick.” Waldman wrote the first line of Trump Sonnets the morning after the biggest upset in U.S. election history. By the time the electoral college vote cemented the Trump presidency, Waldman completed 71 sonnets which became Trump Sonnets, Volume 1, published by Ridgeway Press in March 2017. Following up on its success, Waldman wrote the sequel, Trump Sonnets, Volume 2, subtitled 33 Commentaries, 33 Dreams, to be published January 1, 2018. Now Waldman has adapted this work for the stage.

Since 1995, Ken Waldman, also known at “Alaska’s Fiddling Poet,” has combined old-time Appalachian-style fiddling, poetry, and Alaska-set storytelling for performances uniquely his. Prior to completing Trump Sonnets Volumes 1 and 2, Waldman has had published six full-length poetry collections, a memoir (about his life as a touring artist), and a children’s book D is for Dog Team. His nine CDs include two for children. Waldman’s work as a writer has appeared in Arts & Letters, Beloit Poetry Journal, Massachusetts Review, Puerto del Sol, Quarterly West, and in anthologies published by University of Alaska Press, University Press of New England, and Everyman's Library. Several of his poems and stories have been nominated for Pushcart Prizes. The Denver Post has called Waldman’s mix of music and words “Renegade Americana” and The Austin Chronicle has said that his shows are “Always recommended.” About his Trump-inspired sonnets, book critic Grace Cavalieri wrote: “Good thing we have the First Amendment, or this Dude would be an ex pat. Funny and smart.”