David Lee Poetry Reading in Silver City Sunday April 10
Silver City, Nevada - Historic Silver City is the venue for a month of poetry events this April. Organized by the Resident Artist Program in Silver City in collaboration with many other groups, the festival includes four public events during National Poetry Month.
David Lee, a major figure in American letters, will read from his latest book, Rusty Barbed Wire on Sunday, April 10 at 2pm. Celebrated for his high-energy performances, Lee was the first Poet Laureate of Utah and a finalist-runner-up for the position of U.S. Poet Laureate. He’s known as “a celebrated teacher, a legendary reader in classrooms, bookstores, and taverns...[whose] work is full of the most various qualities: soul-crushing tragedy, lyrical celebration, high comedy, storytelling ebullience.”
Author of more than two dozen books of poetry, the award winning poet dedicated his 2019 book "Mine Tailings" to the community of Silver City, where he’s accepted multiple invitations as an artist-in-residence since 2016.
Some of his awards include the Western States Book Award, Mountain and Plains States Booksellers Award, Elkhorn Poetry Prize and Utah Book Awards. David Lee has received multiple nominations for the National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize. He was the fifth academic in Utah to be named a Lifetime Fellow by the Utah Council of Arts and Sciences and received the Utah Governor’s Award for Lifetime Achievement in both the Arts and Humanities.
David Lee is a Professor Emeritus of English at Southern Utah University where he taught for thirty- two years and chaired the Department of Language, Literature, and Humanities for twenty five of those years. He received every teaching award given by the university, including being named Professor of the Year three times.
David Lee’s reading is hosted by the Resident Artist Program in Silver City, with additional support from the Silver City Preservation Society, Silver City Arts, and the Silver City Volunteer Library.
Silver City’s inaugural poetry festival will also include a reading and workshop with Nevada Poet Gailmarie Pahmeier Sunday, April 3 at 3pm; a Saturday April 9th event at 2pm with the Nevada Women’s History Project to recognize poet Irene Bruce; and a reading by Nevada Writers Hall of Fame member Shaun Griffin on Sunday, April 24 at 2pm.
The Silver City Schoolhouse (community center) is the venue for all four April poetry events. It is located on the Comstock within the national historic district at 385 High Street in Silver City, Nevada 89428. Silver City is 3 miles south of Virginia City, 12 miles from Carson City, and less than 30 miles from Reno. For more information about Silver City’s month of poetry events, contact Resident Artist Program in Silver City director Quest Lakes at (775) 847-0742 or quest@theodata.com.