Hitman-Baker-Casketmaker

Hitman-Baker-Casketmaker: Aftermath of an American's Clash with ICE spotlights loss, change and resurrection. For the first time, Master Bread Baker Klecko reveals the circumstances behind the 2018 demise of St. Agnes Baking Company just days before the Twin Cities hosted Super Bowl LII at U.S. Bank Stadium. The 30-year old bakery was scheduled to be a primary vendor for the event.

In his compelling book of new poems, St. Paul's top baker writes not of financial loss, but of the emotional fall-out of disbanding the bakery's loyal and talented crew, most of whom are immigrants. Klecko tells of assembling the workers to tell them about their fate, of sharing a final lunch with a longtime member of his team, and offers meaningful reflections on those difficult days and the ones that followed.

Hitman-Baker-Casketmaker also focuses on the relationships Klecko developed as a young man with people who were connected to the underworld and on the life-changing decisions he was forced to make at a young age--decisions which have impacted the rest of his life.

Klecko's keen powers of observation are fully on display in this sophisticated and moving collection which further cements his reputation as one of the smartest and most original poets of the day.