Colorado’s Poet Laureate Presents Readings and Workshops (Pueblo)

Mary Crow, Colorado’s poet laureate and English professor at Colorado State University, will present poetry readings, workshops and a public forum in Pueblo April 16-17.

Crow, who was named Colorado’s poet laureate in October 1996, will present the two-day program, called "Words on the Wing: Making Poetry Visible in Pueblo." Events are tailored to reach educational professionals, school children, community libraries and arts and humanities communities.

Crow’s presentations are designed to increase the availability of poetry to local audiences, encourage the innovative teaching of poetry in schools and demonstrate how reading and writing poetry can enhance literacy.

Program events will begin April 16 with a poetry writing workshop for students from 1-2:30 p.m. at Central High School. That evening, Crow will present a poetry reading and facilitate a discussion at 7:30 p.m. in the Hearthwell Room of the Occhiato University Center at the University of Southern Colorado, Occhiato University Center, Hearthwell Room. The reading will include poetry for all ages and is open to the public.

Events will continue April 17 with a teacher workshop from 3:30-5 p.m. at Centennial High School. The workshop will include a discussion of effective and innovative teaching of poetry, hands-on practice of exercises and a discussion of poems suitable for school use.

Events will conclude with a public forum from 7:30-9 p.m. April 17 in the Cottonwood Room of the Occhiato University Center at the University of Southern Colorado. Crow’s talk will focus on enhancing the visibility of poetry locally. It will include discussion of needs in Pueblo and methods which could be used to start local poetry projects.

"One of the premises of this forum is that poetry is a basic part of our human nature and its inborn creativity," Crow said. "Poetry is an essential element of culture which should be available as part of a community’s cultural life.

Crow, who has read poetry throughout the country, was selected as Colorado’s poet laureate on the basis of artistic excellence, service in the advancement of poetry and interest in presenting poetry and literature to Colorado and the nation. Her books of poetry include I Have Tasted the Apple, Borders, The Business of Literature, and Going Home.

The Pueblo program is the second part of a series which Crow is presenting in five communities around the state. Other program sites include Steamboat Springs, Gunnison, Denver and Greeley.

The program was made possible by grants from the Colorado Endowment for the Humanities and the College of Liberal Arts at Colorado State University.

For more information about grants from the Colorado Endowment for the Humanities, write to the Colorado Endowment for the Humanities at 1623 Blake, Denver, Colo., 80202.

For more information about the program, call Lisa Smith in the English department at (970) 491-6843 or Tony Moffeit, event coordinator in Pueblo, at (719) 584-3401.