Pulitzer-inspired readings and conversations for those who love the West
‘Lost Creek’ Photo by Linda Balough used with permission
In honor of the Pulitzer Prizes’ 2016 Centennial Celebration, Park County Public Library is hosting a three-part reading and conversation series focused on “The American West as Living Space.” Before each meeting participants will read selections about the American West written by Pulitzer-recognized authors. Local scholar Elaine Rocksted will facilitate Park County’s conversations springing from the reading selections. This program is part of the Colorado Humanities Pulitzer Prizes Centennial Campfires Initiative.
All participants will receive a free copy of the “American West as Living Space” reader, which includes nonfiction, journalism, fiction, and poetry from works such as Wallace Stegner’s The American West as Living Space, Elizabeth Fenn’s Encounter at the Heart of the World: A History of the Mandan People, Los Angeles Times articles that explore the California drought, fictional works by Annie Proulx, Louise Erdrich, and N. Scott Momaday, and wonderful poetry selections by Gary Snyder, Robert Hass, and Kay Ryan.
This program is sponsored by Colorado Humanities, which received a grant for a proposal focusing on Pulitzer Prize-winning literature about the American West and prepared the free reader for participants. The reader was developed in consultation with Dr. Ronald Edgerton, University of Northern Colorado history professor emeritus and avid reader about the West.
About our facilitator, Elaine Rocksted:
Elaine has taught English in local community colleges for the past fifteen years, and literature for the past seven years. She is a lifelong learner; she obtained her B.A. from Ohio University in History/Government and then took classes at UCD in English and Library Science. She received her MA degree (with honors) from Regis University in Language and Communication. She taught English classes at Arapahoe Community College, Red Rocks Community College, Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design and CCCOnline. These past few years, she has been teaching online classes, but some of her previous positions included working full time at the Denver Art Museum and working as a Communications Coordinator for a nonprofit organization that assisted people with disabilities.
Want to join The American West as Living Space reading group? Sign up!
This workshop is limited to 25 participants. Participants are asked to commit to the readings and attend most of the sessions. To sign up, please call Pat Shepard, Park County Public Library Manager at 719-836-4299 or email pshepard@parkco.us Once your space is confirmed, further information will follow.
About the Pulitzer Prizes Centennial Campfires Initiative
This program is part of the Pulitzer Prizes Centennial Campfires Initiative, a joint venture of the Pulitzer Prizes Board and the Federation of State Humanities Councils in celebration of the 2016 centennial of the Prizes. The initiative seeks to illuminate the impact of journalism and the humanities on American life today, to imagine their future and to inspire new generations to consider the values represented by the body of Pulitzer Prize-winning work. For their generous support for the Campfires Initiative, we thank the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Ford Foundation, Carnegie Corporation of New York, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Pulitzer Prizes Board, and Columbia University.