Key West The Newspaper

Two Texas Poets Laureate Embark on 3-Year Arts Project “Words of Preservation: A Poets Laureate National Parks Tour”

Fort Worth, TX – Texas Poets Laureate Karla K. Morton and Alan Birkelbach, both award-winning writers with eleven published books, will travel to Florida’s Dry Tortugas National Park February 15-21, 2017 as part of Words of Preservation: A Poets Laureate National Parks Tour, a 3-year joint arts project the two poets launched last year during the National Park System’s 100 year anniversary. They will visit 50 or more of the 59 U.S. National Parks during the tour, documenting their journey through poetry and photography, ultimately creating one or more books. Their plan is to donate a percentage of sales to the National Park Service.

While in Florida later this month, they will present a poetry reading and Q&A session at the Key West Public Library, located at 700 Fleming Street in Key West, at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday, February 16, 2017.

Morton and Birkelbach have both presented at various venues and been featured by media across the country. At the Key West Public Library reading, Morton will read selections from her eleven books, including the recently released Accidental Origami: New and Selected Works. Birkelbach will also read favorites from his eleven collections, including Waking the Bones: New and Selected Works, published earlier this year. Additionally, they will share highlights from their ongoing National Park Tour, discuss the creative process and hold a Q&A session.

The idea for the National Parks Tour project came to Morton while she was working on Accidental Origami (her latest book) in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Like Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau and John Muir, Morton and Birkelbach hope to contribute to the exploration, preservation and protection of our country’s National Parks … for the next 100 years.

“In this digital age, there is no replacement for the grandeur of Mother Nature. Wonder cannot be imported or exported, but it can be captured with words, and we can think of no better treasure to explore, champion and share through our work than the U.S. National Parks,” said Morton.

When the poets visited Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado, they spoke at the Durango Public Library. Megan Kinney, Librarian, says this of their poetry reading:

“What do you think of when you hear the words ‘poet laureate?’ Esoteric, brilliant, and maybe even ‘inaccessible and unapproachable?’ Well, Durango Public Library learned otherwise when Karla Morton and Alan Birkelbach visited us as part of their National Parks Tour. They were funny, down-to-earth, and just plain entertaining! Each read from their poetry and talked about the creative process and their roles as Texas Poets Laureate. We hope they will swing back through Durango in the future, and we wish them well on their innovative and interesting National Parks Tour.”

For more information about Karla K. Morton, visit www.kkmorton.com. For updates on Morton and Birkelbach’s National Parks Tour, follow Karla on facebook and/or subscribe to her quarterly enewsletter.