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Dances with Words Spring Series Concludes with Two Idaho Authors

April 10, 2019

On Thursday, April 18, 2019 Mary Clearman Blew will visit the University of Montana Western to read from her personal works as a guest author. Roger Dunsmore will share a reading from his poetry collection on Thursday, May 2 to conclude the spring semester “Dances with Words” series.

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“Dances with Words” is produced by English Professor Alan Weltzien. The series, free and open to the public, provides the community with a unique opportunity to listen to writers reading their own works, including Montana Western student writers.

Blew was born and raised on a ranch in rural Fergus County, Mont. She has written and edited 15 books composed of both fiction and nonfiction. Her short fiction collection, “Runaway,” won a Pacific Northwest Booksellers Award, as did her memoir “All but the Waltz: Essays on a Montana Family.” Her novel, “Jackalope Dreams,” won the Western Heritage Award in 2009.

Her latest novel, “Ruby Dreams of Janis Joplin,” was released in September 2018. In this story, Ruby comes to understand her family mysteries through her performances with a country-western band. Blew currently resides in Moscow, Idaho.

Dunsmore taught at Montana Western from 2005-2012. Additionally, He taught at the Montana Women’s Rehab Prison from 2006-2013, earning him recognition from Humanities Montana. He was selected as one of their Humanities Heroes in 2012.

Dunsmore’s fifth volume of poetry, “On the Chinese Wall: New & Selected Poems,” is a collection from 1966-2018. His poem,“Tiger Hill,” was awarded an Individual Artists Fellowship from the Montana Arts Council in 2001.

In 2013, Dunsmore and his wife moved to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Currently, he is creating new poetry and working on many unfinished poems.

Each performance in the series starts at 7:30 p.m. in The Cup, Montana Western’s coffeehouse located below the library on campus.

Featured authors’ books at “Dances with Words” are made available for purchase by The Bookstore and Deb Sporich.

For more information about the series, please contact Alan Weltzien by email at [email protected] or call 406-683-7431.

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