Aaron Abeyta will be keynoter at 2015 Wyoming Writers conference

Aaron Abeyta

This news comes from Wyoming Writers, Inc., WYO's statewide writing org:

The Board of Wyoming Writers is excited to have the poet, Aaron Abeyta, from Adams State University in Alamosa, Colorado, as our presenter in poetry workshops, and as our keynote speaker. When the word got out that Aaron was coming, we got messages from people praising the choice. Poets, writers, and teachers who have had the privilege of working with Aaron in a variety of workshop and classroom settings were enthusiastic about both his writing and his thoughtful approach to teaching and motivating poetry from the roots up.

Aaron says: “The poet must be both ‘piper’ and ‘bard,’ tender and turbulent, dangerous and comforting; the poet must be able to understand, as Czeslaw Milosz put it: ‘In the very essence of poetry there is something indecent: a thing brought forth which we didn’t know we had in us, so we blink our eyes….’ ( Ars Poetica)” In our correspondence he excerpted another poet from workshop material, the American, Mary Oliver: “‘…just/ pay attention, then patch/ a few words together and don’t try/ to make them elaborate, this isn’t/ a contest but the doorway…’ (from Praying). In short, we must be observant and ‘prayerful’ in our watchfulness of the world around us.”

Aaron has a B. A. in English, and an M. F. A. in Poetry from Colorado State University. His most recent collection: Letters from the Headwaters (Western Press Books) in out this year. An earlier collection, Colcha won the American Book Award for Poetry, and the Colorado Book Award. His list of publications and appearances is lengthy.

Aaron will be at the WWInc. conference June 5-7, 2015, in Cheyenne, just a short six months from now. Get more info here. 

Aaron is a fellow grad of the excellent CSU creative writing program. One of his mentors was poet Bill Tremblay, who also mentored me although I am not a poet. A slew of CSU writers have visited Wyoming during the 23 years I've been in the state. Both Bill and Aaron taught at the Words Worth Writing Symposium for high school students, a very fine workshop spearheaded by poet Diane Panozzo when she taught at Cheyenne East High School. 

See you in June.