Poems on the range: The National Cowboy Poetry Gathering — America’s quintessential event honoring the western cowboy — is turning 25 in 2009.
From Jan. 24 to 31, the small community of Elko, Nev., will overflow with thousands of cowboys and cowgirls, poets and musicians, artisans and scholars, rural people and city folks — for a grand celebration of the American West’s ranching and rural culture.
Tickets to the Silver Anniversary of the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering are currently on sale to Western Folklife Center members and will go on sale to the general public at 9 a.m. Thursday. Tickets can be purchased at www.westernfolklife.org or by calling 888-880-5885.
Former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, who grew up on a cattle ranch in Arizona, will deliver the 2009 keynote speech. O’Connor wrote “Lazy B: Growing Up On a Cattle Ranch in the American Southwest” with her brother, Alan Day.
The 25th gathering will feature dozens of performances on six simultaneous stages by 53 poets and 24 musicians and musical groups, including 15 individuals who participated in the very first Elko Cowboy Poetry Gathering in 1985.
Herald Staff
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