Trout Swimming in America

I missed hearing Dana Gioia tonight at the opening reception for the Wyoming Arts Summit in Casper. Gioia, the poet who heads the National Endowment for the Arts, was due to speak some time between 6 and 6:30 at the Nicolaysen Art Museum. I dropped in at 5 to help fellow WAC staffers prepare for the onslaught of guests. Nic Director Holly Turner and her staff greeted guests, which by the time I departed at 5:45 included WAC board members Bruce Richardson, David Neary and Dave Kathka; former board member Susie Dowler; State Parks and Cultural Resources Director Milward Simpson; and Cultural Resources Director Sara Needles.

I left early because, as a member in good standing of the ARTCORE/Casper College Literary Conference planning committee, I needed to be at our reception and reading at the Izaak Walton Clubhouse a couple miles to the east. When I arrived, Colorado's Jeff Finlin Band was rattling the rafters of the log clubhouse. The band includes Casper's Amy Geiske on bass.

The reading began at 7 in front of an SRO crowd that (surprisingly) included a lot of young people. While most conference workshops and panel discussions are held at the college, I have seen few people in their teens and twenties at the events thus far. Prying them away from class and computer is always a challenge. When I taught creative writing, I always included on-campus literary events as part of my class syllabi. Yes, extortion and blackmail are permitted when used in promotion of the arts.  

First up at the Thursday evening reading was Casper College sociology prof Chad Hanson who read the title story of his collection, Swimming with Trout. In it, the main character invents the new pastime of "swimming with trout," which is a lot like swimming with dolphins although there's little chance of being attacked by sharks. The character dons a wetsuit, mask and snorkel to swim the North Platte and admire the fish. Later, he plunges into a local creek to "count coup" on trout. A great story. I could see that it sets the tone for the rest of the volume.

Belarus poet Valzhyna Mort's reading was on the theme of "six love poems -- and one about a dead man." Her most powerful one was not the one about the dead man -- that got laughs. But a love poem called "Utopia." This one focuses on Molvina, a little girl with blue hair, which is, according to Mort, the Belarus version of Pinnochio.

Nick Flynn first read several passages from his memoir, Another Bullshit Night in Suck City, then read a section from his newest memoir, The Year of the Monkey. It centered around events in 2004, which is The Year of the Monkey on what we used to refer as the Oriental Calendar but not sure what it's called now. One of those events was the release of the photos of prison torture at Baghdad's Abu Garaib Prison. Nick tied in a youthful memory of a house fire, Plato, and Vice President Dick Cheney into the piece. Appropriate since Cheney grew up in Casper and his malevolent essence is still felt here.

Ekiwah Adler-Belendez of Mexico wrapped up the evening with poems about the recent protests by the Burmese monks, his ordeals with surgery for spinal problems (Ekiwah travels in a wheelchair), and finished with a long and powerful love poem called "Cyberspace Blues."

Afterwards, I bought too many books and had them signed by the authors. I may be able to take part in some of the events tomorrow, but more than likely I'll be at the Wyoming Arts Sumiit all day. That's when I can hear Mr. Gioia as he opens the day's proceedings at the Casper Events Center. Gioia delivers the keynote at 9 a.m.

Michael Shay, Casper, Wyo., 10/18/07