2021 Local Reads

For the last couple of years, I’ve written a post about the books I’ve read from local authors during the previous year. Oftentimes, I post photos on social media when I’m reading the book and I’ll leave a review for the book when I’m done. I write this article in the new year as one last send-off of getting works readers might not otherwise come across on their own. These are a few ways I support local authors.

WyoPoets’ Chapbooks

I’ve been on the board of WyoPoets, the Wyoming state poetry society, for nearly three years now. I’d only been a member for a year before joining the board. Being on the board has given me the opportunity to get to know the members and the organization.

Every other year, WyoPoets has a members-only, themed chapbook contest. My connection to WyoPoets made reading these poems special. I’d see names of poets I’ve come to know over the last few years, some whose voices I’ve become familiar with, and other poets who I’ve heard much about but who are no longer with us. It was also fun to see how different poets tackled the same theme. I think I have some more WyoPoets’ chapbooks squirreled away somewhere, so it will be fun to read some of the more recent chapbooks by this group.

 Art Elser

Art Elser is a WyoPoets member who lives in Colorado and writes beautiful poetry. Art was also the presenter at the first poetry workshop I attended. The topic of his discussion was Art vs. Craft. Since then, I’ve come to know Art better, along with the encouragement and kindness he gives to both me and the poetry community.

In It Seemed Innocent Enough, Art writes several observational pieces, giving you glimpses into the lives of others as he masterfully notes their interactions. He also gives glimpses into his life, writing contemplative pieces that make you want to know more. His poems on his time during the Vietnam war are haunting. The poems in this collection are beautifully written.

In A High Plains Year in Haiku, Art takes the reader through moments of wonder and beauty. He captures images from every season. Several poems are laced with humor. My favorite poems were when Art would create an image within the first two lines and add a twist in the third line — some in a humorous way, some in a poignant manner.

As I’ve come to know Art’s writing, I’ve noticed he has a wonderful way of describing things we might see on any given day, but framing them in a new way that makes the experience fresh.

Nicholas Trandahl

Nicholas Trandahl is also a member of WyoPoets and lives in Wyoming. He’s also published by the same publisher as I am, Winter Goose Publishing. I’ve read his other two poetry collections over the years and I always think that Nick has a way of opening his collections with a warm, inviting poem that quickly settles you into place. He does that again with this collection, and his first poem is aptly called “Settle In.” Nick is a master at making you feel welcome in his world of poetry.

Within just a few pages, he began reframing my understanding of bravery, gently broadening the scope of what the word encompasses. A few of my favorite poems from this collection include “Baptism,” “Garland of Stones,” and “Labor Day.”

Betsy Orient Bernfeld

Betsy Bernfeld is also a member of WyoPoets and she’s just signed on with Winter Goose Publishing. I made a point this year to explore the work of more WyoPoets’ members. Reading the poetry of the members is such a wonderful way to get to know them and to support them. And Betsy’s work did not disappoint.

In her collection, Eve, the poems have a strong theme of femininity throughout. Many of the poems read like stories and were intriguing and gripping, yet unmistakably poetry with beautiful poetic lines. My favorite poem may have been “If I Were Going to Build a House” with lovely lines like “what is the purpose of windows but to stand between you and sky.” The poems near the end were spellbinding, and perhaps choosing a favorite is not so simple.

Patricia Frolander

Second Wind is a collection by WyoPoets’ member Patricia Frolander. And it’s a good one. Pat also served as Wyoming Poet Laureate from November 7, 2011-June 9, 2013.

This collection won a silver Will Rogers Medallion, received the Women Writing the West WILLA Award in memory of Willa Cather, was honored with the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Award (known as the Wrangler Award), and was a finalist in the best Woman Writer category of the High Plains Book Awards. I may not have even captured all the honors Pat received for this poetry collection.

Pat skillfully writes about grief, Wyoming landscapes, ranch life, community, nature, and family. She writes about the loss of not just her husband of fifty-three years but of animals. There are memories sewn throughout the collection, deeply rooted in the land. She writes beautiful lines like “Memories gather in a house too small for grief.” A lovely collection.

Sheryl Lain

Sheryl Lain is a WyoPoets’ member, but perhaps more importantly to me, she’s a member of my writing group.  Proving Up is a beautiful collection of short stories and poems that come together to span a lifetime. Each piece stands alone but the stories and poems are arranged to detail an incredibly full and rich life. As the title suggests, there’s an ongoing theme of proving worthy. I think Sheryl conveys a life well-lived time and time again as her tenacity shines through her life experiences.

I remember thinking several times throughout this book about what an amazing legacy this collection is for Sheryl’s family and how every family would be so lucky to have someone so skilled pass on stories of their family. And to have a life interesting enough to write about that people outside her family would be pulled in and engaged in reading about it. She doesn’t shy away from any subject and yet reveals some hard information in such a loving, honest way. Wit and humor are layered throughout. I’m not sure how she managed to compile these pieces to create a picture of a life that could easily be argued as a very hard life in such a way that the struggles sounded like opportunities that Sheryl and her family crafted into a beautiful tapestry.

If you enjoyed this list, check out the 2019 Local Reads and 2020 Local Reads and find more great books.