Wyoming Arts Council

"In Praise of Trees and Forests" reading Dec. 12 at Teton County Library

Featured News | December 4, 2013

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From the Teton County Public Library:

Teton County Library and Whit Press invite the community to come and listen to friends and neighbors read selections from the upcoming  anthology “In Praise of Trees and Forests” on Thursday, Dec. 12, at 6:30 p.m. in the Library’s Ordway Auditorium during the first public reading of this new poetry collection.

“In this dark and sacred time of year, come celebrate trees and forests with the finest poets and storytellers in the world,” says Whit Press Founder Claudia Mauro, who edited the anthology with pioneering rainforest ecologist, Nalini Nadkarni. [Mauro received a 2013 creative writing fellowship in poetry from the Wyoming Arts Council.]

Jackson residents from all walks of life – from deli counter workers and firefighters, to middle school students and doctors – will read from “In Praise of Trees and Forests.” The international anthology features works ranging from ancient parables to contemporary poems. Thursday’s reading will highlight works by Pablo Neruda, Mary Oliver, Jalaludin Rumi, Gary Snyder, Walt Whitman, Naomi Shahib Nye and Wendell Berry – to name just a few.

“We chose pieces for this anthology that inspire both awareness and courage on behalf of our remaining trees and forests,” Mauro says. “Being caught up in the pace of our daily lives, especially at this time of year, can make us a little numb to the beauty of living in this exceptional place. Good poems and good storytelling have the power to reconnect us to ourselves and each other – and to wake us up to the wonder that surrounds us every day here.”

For the anthology, Mauro chose accessible poems and stories. “All the doors and windows are open in this book, everyone can find a way in and take a seat by the fire,” she says. Proceeds from sales of the anthology, slated for publication mid-winter, will benefit forest conservation projects globally and locally, Mauro says. Thursday’s sneak preview and public reading is free and open to the community with support from donations, large and small, to the Teton County Library Foundation.

You can find Teton County Library online at www.tclib.org, call  307.733.2164 or visit us at 125 Virginian Lane, Jackson WY, 83001

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