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

Mary Crow, Colorado’s poet laureate and English professor at Colorado State University, will present poetry readings and workshops in Lafayette, Colo., May 17-18.

Crow, who was named Colorado’s poet laureate in October 1996, will present the two-day program, called "Words on the Wing II: Making Poetry Visible in Lafayette." 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 begin May 17 with two poetry writing workshops for high-school students at 1:15 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. at Centaurs High School, 10300 S. Boulder Road.

On the evening of May 17, Crow will give a public reading at 7:30 p.m. in the downstairs meeting room of the Lafayette Public Library, 775 W. Baseline Road.

Events will continue May 18 with a poetry workshop for high-school teachers from 4-5:30 p.m. at the Lafayette Public Library. The workshop will include a discussion of effective and innovative teaching of poetry, practice of exercises, and a discussion of poems suitable for school use.

Events will conclude with a public forum at 7:30 p.m. May 18 at the Lafayette Public Library. Crow’s talk will focus on enhancing the visibility of poetry locally. Crow briefly will describe poetry projects in Northern Colorado and will discuss needs in Lafayette 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" and "Borders."

Her translations of poetry include "Engravings Torn from Insomnia: Poems by Olga Orozco" and "Homesickness: Selected Poems by Enrique Lihn."

The Lafayette program is part of a series which Crow is presenting in five communities around the state. Other program sites include Durango, Grand Junction, Telluride and Colorado Springs. "Words on the Wing II" is a continuation of last year’s "Words on the Wing" program that included five other Colorado communities.

This 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 the program, call Stephanie Owen in the English department at (970) 491-6843 or Connie Oehring at (303) 333-3003.