Texas poets laureate Morton and Birkelbach embark on three-year arts project, “Words of Preservation: A Poets Laureate National Parks Tour”

Texas poets laureate Karla K. Morton and Alan Birkelbach, both award-winning writers with eleven published books, kicked off a joint three-year project titled “Words of Preservation: A Poets Laureate National Parks Tour” last year during the National Park System’s 100-year anniversary.

Texas Poets Laureate Karla K. Morton (above, left) and Alan Birkelbach will visit 50 or more of the 59 U.S. National Parks to commemorate the 100-year history of the parks. (Photos provided)

They will visit fifty or more of the U.S. National Parks during the tour, documenting their journey through poetry and photography, ultimately creating one or more books, to help celebrate the next one hundred years. Their plan is to donate a percentage of sales to the National Park Service.

The poets kicked off the tour with an NPR Wyoming interview and an inspirational visit to Yellowstone National Park and the Grand Tetons National Park. Next, they visited Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, Mesa Verde National Park, Channel Islands National Park, and Joshua Tree National Park. In February, they’ll travel to Dry Tortugas National Park in Florida (February 15–21, 2017), followed by spring trips to the Guadalupe Mountains National Park in Texas (April 9–11), Isle Royale National Park in Michigan (May 11–17) and the Badlands and Wind Cave National Parks in South Dakota (June 16–21). Later in the year, they will visit three National Parks in Alaska (August 11–20), Acadia National Park in Maine (October 13–17), and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee (November 9–15).

On each leg of the journey, the poets are conducting media interviews and speaking at the parks and at universities, public libraries, bookstores and/or coffee shops, sharing their poetry and talking about the creative process, their roles as Texas poets laureate, their National Parks Tour and answering questions about poetry, writing and, of course, Texas.

In February, during their time visiting Dry Tortugas National Park, they will present a poetry reading and Q&A session at the Key West Public Library on Feb. 16, 2017, at 4:00 p.m. In April, they will present a poetry reading inside the Guadalupe Mountains National Park in Texas (date TBA).

When the poets visited Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado, they spoke at the Durango Public Library.

Megan Kinney, Librarian, says this of their presentation: “What do you think of when you hear the words ‘poet laureate?’ Esoteric, brilliant, and maybe even ‘inaccessible and unapproachable?’ Well, Durango Public Library learned otherwise when Karla Morton and Alan Birkelbach visited us as part of their National Parks Tour. They were funny, down-to-earth, and just plain entertaining! Each read from their poetry and talked about the creative process and their roles as Texas Poets Laureate. We hope they will swing back through Durango in the future, and we wish them well on their innovative and interesting National Parks Tour.”

The initial spark to do something like this came to Morton when she was at a national conference and learned that 2016 would be 100th anniversary of the National Park Service. A year later, while she was working on her book Accidental Origami in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, the idea took formation. Like Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and John Muir, Morton and Birkelbach hope to contribute to the exploration, preservation and protection of our country’s National Parks … for the next century.

“In this digital age, there is no replacement for the grandeur of Mother Nature. Wonder cannot be imported or exported, but it can be captured with words, and we can think of no better treasure to explore, champion and share through our work than the U.S. National Parks,” said Morton.

For updates on Morton and Birkelbach’s National Parks Tour, visit  www.texaspoetlaureate.com/tour.html

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Bookstore briefs: Absolutely Fiction welcomes readers in Lufkin

During our Lone Star Literary Bookish Tour of Texas, we’re always pleased to discover new bookstores along the trail. On a recommendation, we stopped in at Absolutely Fiction in Lufkin, where owner Becky Jackson (above, center) gave us the nickel tour. Jackson’s store, which opened in July 2016, is the first bookstore to serve Lufkin, which lost its Waldenbooks six years ago.

The store offers a lovingly curated range of general fiction, nonfiction, and children’s titles, along with books by local authors. Its warm and welcoming decor features an eclectic array of chandeliers—legacies from the also-visitable Wishing Well antiques store next door—and library tables and other vintage furnishings.

8th annual New Fiction Confab schedued for April 1, Austin

Dan Chaon, Patty Yumi Cottrell, Alexandra Kleeman, John Pipkin, Deb Olin Unferth and Yoojin Grace Wuertz will take part in  the Austin Public Library Friends Foundation’s 8th annual New Fiction Confab, which takes place April 1, 2017.

Each year, the Confab invites a handful of early- and mid-career authors to Austin to spend a day leading writing workshops, reading their work, and engaging in conversations with the Austin literary community.

Dan Chaon is the acclaimed author of six works of fiction, including Await Your Reply and Among the Missing, which was a finalist for the National Book Award. His latest novel is the thriller Ill Will.

Patty Yumi Cottrell’s work has appeared or is forthcoming in Guernica, BOMB, Gulf Coast, Black Warrior Review, and elsewhere. Her debut novel is Sorry to Disrupt the Peace.

Alexandra Kleeman’s début novel, You Too Can Have a Body Like Mine, was published in 2015 and her debut story collection, Intimations, came out last year.

Austin author John Pipkin’s first novel, Woodsburner, earned multiple awards and was named one of the best books of 2009 by the Washington Post, the Christian Science Monitor, and the San Francisco Chronicle. His latest novel is The Blind Astronomer’s Daughter.

Austin author and teacher Deb Olin Unferth is the author of Minor Robberies, Vacation, and Revolution: The Year I Fell in Love and Went to Join the War, which was a finalist for a National Book Critics Circle Award in autobiography. Her first short story collection, Wait Till You See Me Dance, is out in March.

Yoojin Grace Wuertz was born in Seoul, South Korea, and immigrated to the United States at age six. Her debut novel, Everything Belongs to Us, is due out in late February.

(Compiled from media reports)

Writers’ League Celebrates “Texas Independents” Mar. 2, Odessa

In March 2017 the Writers’ League of Texas will partner with some of the state’s greatest Independents—in conjunction with Texas Independence Day—to host a series of free and open events throughout the month of March in communities across the state.

These panel discussions (featuring authors and experts and including time for questions and networking) will focus on the great opportunities that Texas has to offer, from independent presses, to journals, to bookstores, and beyond, while also answering writers’ burning questions about the publishing process, submitting to agents, catching the eye of an editor, and more.

“Celebrating Texas Independents: Our Great Literary State’s Independent Presses, Journals, Bookstores & More” will kick off in Odessa, Texas, moderated by WLT Executive Director Becka Oliver and four great panelists (including Will Evans, founder and president of Cinestate, and Kay Ellington, publisher of Lone Star Literary Life; the full list of panelists will be available online soon.)

March 2, 2017, 7 p.m., free and open to the public
Odessa College – Saulsbury Campus Center

Zant Room (West)

201 W. University Blvd., Odessa, TX 79764

RSVPs are suggested, but not required. Light refreshments served.

(Information from organization’s press release)