Ken Cook spends his days ranching and writing in South Dakota. He has gathered cattle out of tough country, saddled up on many a dark morning, and been run over by an embarrassing number of mama cows. The Cook crew—Ken and Nancy and their four ranch-raised cowhands—worked and played side by side through diapers to adulthood. Nancy is pretty sure Ken will never grow up!
 

Now, Ken's sharing his poetry on stages across the West. He's been privileged to entertain folks in several states, invited to perform at regional  gatherings in Colorado, Nebraska, and North Dakota. He has appeared at the Badger Clark and Western Heritage Centers in South Dakota, and was a featured performer at the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, Nevada.

"The poetry of Ken Cook keeps an audience alternately in stitches or tears," says Heritage of the American West Performance series producer Francie Ganje. "He is a special performer."

Ken's poetry has been featured in IM Cowgirl, Open Range and Rope Burns magazines. It is played on radio stations across the West, including Joe Baker's Backforty Bunkhouse, Jim and Andy Nelson's Clear Out West radio show, and Totsie Slover's Real West from the Old West.

His is an authentic voice, bringing a deep respect for past generations to cowboy poetry. Award-winning cowboy poet and rancher Yvonne Hollenbeck calls him "a master poet, a great entertainer, and a real cowboy." Rick Huff, Western entertainment critic, has this to say: "You do tend to hang on Ken's words, both because of the way they come at you and the

quality of their order."   
                    

Ken is the 2010 Academy of Western Artists Male Poet of the Year. In 2007, at the National Cowboy Poetry Rodeo (NCPR), Ken's serious poetry earned him a silver buckle. Smoke Wade, NCPR emcee and poet stands firm in his belief that "Ken Cook is a real working cowboy who writes real working cowboy poetry. Cook has helped bring cowboy poetry back to its roots: poems of the cowboy written by the cowboy."
 

In June 2009, Ken was named Lariat Laureate in a global competition at CowboyPoetry.com, a project of the Center for Western and Cowboy Poetry. His work is featured on four Bar-D Roundup compilation albums produced by the Center for Western and Cowboy Poetry. His poetry has also been written about and featured online at the prestigious Poetry Foundation.
  

Ken has recorded three spoken-word CDs: Dad, We'll Rope Today, I'm Gonna Be a Cowboy, and his latest, Cowboys Are Like That. Cowboys Are Like That is receiving grand reviews and radio airplay around the world," says Joe Baker, AWA disc jockey of the year. "Ken is the real deal cowboy poet."