Poet David Lee to read at Art Center

The poet David Lee will be in town to read from his latest collection, “Last Call” (Wings Press), on May 16 at the Art Center.

There will be a meets-the-author reception from 5-6 p.m. and the reading will begin at 6 p.m. This event is free and open to the public. For more information you can call Churchill Arts at 775-423-1440. Copies of Lee’s book will be available for purchase at the reading.

KVLV radio (980 AM) will also be broadcasting an interview with the author on May 15.

Lee was raised in West Texas and has a wide variety of experiences ranging from being a seminary student to being a boxer; from being a hog farmer to being a semi-pro baseball player—the only white guy to ever play for the Negro League Post Texas Blue Stars.

He’s also earned a doctorate and taught at several universities, recently retiring as Chairman of the Department of Literature and Language at Southern Utah University.

Named as Utah’s first poet laureate in 1997, Lee’s work has also received numerous awards including the Western States Book Award and the Mountain and Plains Booksellers Award.

In addition to “Last Call,” he’s the author of more than 20 collections of verse including “Day’s Work,” “Driving and Drinking,” “My Town” and “News From Down To The Café.”

His poetry has been called the real deal in recording insightful examinations of life in rural American West and his masterful evocation of the spoken vernacular of those who live there. Sam Hamill, founding editor of Copper Canyon Press, has noted “If we were a civilized nation, we would declare David Lee a national treasure.”

A couple of poem titles from the new collection give you a brief, perhaps accurate, perhaps misguided idea of some of the author’s concerns: “Prelude to the World’s Greatest Meatloaf Sandwich” and “Interlude at McDonald’s in Ely, Nevada, drinking coffee after filing up my truck with stagecoach-robbery priced diesel ten point two m.p.g.”

So come on down to the Art Center and listen to one of America’s most original voices.

Kirk Robertson covers the arts and may be reached at news@lahontanvalleynews.com.