Poet Laureate David Mason to visit campus

Colorado Poet Laureate David Mason will present “The Ludlow Massacre in a Narrative Poem: Lessons for the Present” at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 8 on the third floor of the Kraemer Family Library.

Mason will discuss selections from the book “Ludlow: A Verse Novel” as part of A Kraemer Conversation in conjunction with the All Campus Reads project. The event is free and open to the public.

April 2014 marks the 100 year anniversary of one of most dramatic confrontations between capital and labor in U.S. History, the Ludlow Massacre and 10-days war. This deadly event punctuated a 16 month strike organized by the United Mine Workers of America against the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company in southern Colorado.

The event had a profound impact on the working population of the United States. Congressional investigations into the strike and massacre sparked labor reform laws including eight-hour workdays and child labor prohibitions.

Mason’s other books of poems include “The Buried Houses,” “The Country I Remember” and “Arrivals.” His verse novel, “Ludlow”, was published in 2007, and named best poetry book of the year by the Contemporary Poetry Review and the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. He is also the author of a collection of essays, “The Poetry of Life and the Life of Poetry,” his memoir, “News from the Village,” appeared in 2010. A new collection of essays, “Two Minds of a Western Poet,” followed in 2011. His poetry, prose and translations have appeared in such periodicals as The New Yorker, Harper’s, The Nation, The New Republic, and The Times Literary Supplement.

Mason serves as Poet Laureate of Colorado and teaches at Colorado College.

The All Campus Reads program is commemorating the 100 year anniversary of the great Colorado coalfield strike and war of 1913-1914. Committee members are: Christina Martinez, senior instructor, Kraemer Family Library, chair; Andrea Herrera, professor, Women’s and Ethnic Studies; Karin Larkin, curator, Department of Anthropology; Tracy Gonzalez-Padron, assistant professor, College of Business;  Barbara Headle, senior instructor, Department of History; and Constance Staley, professor, Department of Communication.

This event is co-sponsored by the Kraemer Family Library, Department of Anthropology and University Advancement.