Summer 2007 - the Wyoming State Library

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Robert Roripaugh, past Wyoming poet laureateOn life, landscape and CatherLike Willa Cather, Robert Roripaugh draws inspiration for his writing from the westernlandscape.Roripaugh served as Wyoming’s poet laureate from 1995 to 2002. He taught at the Universityof Wyoming for 35 years with an emphasis on creative writing and Western American literature.He is giving the keynote speech on The Big Read at the Wyoming Book Festival at 10:30 a.m.on Saturday, Sept. 15 in the Big Read tent.“When I started teaching Western Literature, Willa Cather was just a natural to turn to,”Roripaugh said. “She was the figure that seemed in a literary way to most clearly suggest thehomestead experience, and she wrote about it so interestingly in My Ántonia.”Roripaugh has two published novels, A Fever for Living and Honor thy Father, and two books of poetry, Learn to Love the Hazeand The Ranch. His next book, The Legend of Billy Jenks and Other Wyoming Stories, is being published soon by High Plains Press.A Fever for Living takes place in post-World War II Japan, where Roripaugh met and married his wife, Yoshiko. All the othersdraw from Wyoming’s life and landscapes.“People are shaped by where they live,” he said. “In Western American literature, this is especially true.”Roripaugh’s own family took part in the pioneer experience, moving from the East to Keokuk, Iowa and then later toNebraska, just east of Red Cloud, the small town where Cather lived and the basis for the fictional town of Black Hawk in MyÁntonia.Wyoming and Willa Cather’s work are connected, he says. There is a shared history of homesteading, prairie life, theimmigrant experience and the coming of the railroad. The land, so overwhelming to those who came to it as Cather herselfdid, is a significant theme in the literature of the West.Roripaugh’s family bought a ranch near Lander in 1949. He earned his B.A. and M.A. at the University of Wyoming. His firstpublished works were short stories and the two novels. He taught poetry in literature and creative writing classes, and in the1970s began writing it more seriously.His roots as a writer, however, go much further back. “I probably became a writer in the way many writers do, and that’sby being readers,” he said. His mother “always encouraged me in reading, and we always had books around the house. I wasencouraged to go to libraries, and reading became a part of my life.”Roripaugh was featured in last year’s Equality State Book Festival, and is looking forward to the Wyoming Book Festival. “Itseemed a fine idea for bringing authors and people interested in books and reading and literature together,” he said of lastyear’s event. “I think it will work the same way this year. I have no doubt at all.”In addition to his keynote address, Roripaugh will sign books at 12:30 p.m. and do a poetry reading at the Wyoming Arts Council at 1:30 p.m.Willa Cather’s life and workWhen Willa Cather was nine years old, she moved with her family from lush, green Virginia to theprairies of south central Nebraska. Her new surroundings seemed remote and barren. To overcomeher loneliness, she rode her horse from farm to farm and made friends with her pioneer neighbors.Many of these men and women were European immigrants who had settled the plains, yet still heldon to Old World customs and attitudes. Cather’s exposure to these people and a love of the free, wild“shaggy grass country” provided her with the fodder for her best writing.Today, Willa Cather’s writing has a strong appeal to those who, like Cather, appreciate the pioneerspirit and cherish old traditions. However, she demands more than a simple reverence for the past. Sheasks her readers to strive for excellence, not material gain, and to be sensitive to the beauties of the land and to the people around us.Most of all, Cather expects each of us to make the best of what we have been given – the best of what we are.~Lynne Swanson16Wyoming Library Roundup • Summer 2007
Author’s river writing journeystop Oprah’s getawaysWhen author Page Lambert began writing about the West and the wilderness, she found many answers shewas looking for in her life could be found in nature.“Nature continues to be a great teacher for me,” Lambert says.Whether she struggled with raising herchildren, with environmental issues, orquestions that arose as a woman, heranswers were just outside her door.Now Lambert helps other women findtheir answers too. Lambert facilitatescreative adventures, including the RiverWriting Journeys for Women whichprovide women with an opportunity tocome together and share their creativeenergy.“Something very magical alwayshappens on these trips—thecombination of women alone in thewilderness, writing and sharing, createssuch a unique atmosphere of trust andopenness,” Lambert says.“We hike. We swim. We write. Werun rapids, float the smooth water, talkabout the creative process, share ourjournaling, share our joy,” Lambert says.Lambert’s River Writing Journeys forWomen were featured in Oprah’s Omagazine as one of the top six greatall-girl getaways of the year. Similarstories appeared in The Denver Post, TheRocky Mountain News, Denver Magazine5280, the Fort Collins Coloradoan andseveral Southwest magazines. Plans fora Wyoming horseback writing retreatare underway for 2008.One great aspect of the writingadventures for Lambert is that sheworks with and helps her peers. She alsodoes this as a writing coach. AlthoughLambert says she doesn’t get to workwith as many writers as she wouldlike, she loves helping people haveconfidence in their stories.“I like to shine the light on theirwriting, chip away at the matrix, andhelp them find the gem that’s alreadythere,” she says.Lambert is a native Coloradoan. Shestudied writing in college and thenspent 18 years working in the corporateworld, in the judicial system, and as anentrepreneur. When she moved to asmall ranch in Black Hills of Wyomingin 1985 (where she and her husbandreared their son and daughter), shequickly became involved with the CrookCounty Library, becoming a memberof the Bear Lodge Writers where shewas encouraged to “get serious” aboutputting a book together.“I was surprised by how profoundand deep my emotions were regardingthe issues involving the land, and theWest.” She soon started writing aboutthe animals on her ranch, the wildlifeand stories about her children. “It was ablessing that these passions manifestedthemselves in my writing. When I wouldgo to meetings and read journal pieces,I would often say, ‘Oh, I just broughtanother silly animal story to readtonight.’”She quickly realized that her storiesabout what some might call “small”issues or events resonated with readerstrying to find symbolism and meaningin their own lives.Working to help other writers honetheir passion and find their place,whether that is one with the wilderness,is something Lambert says she enjoysabout her career.Lambert is one of more than 60authors attending the Wyoming BookFestival September 14-15 on the Capitolgrounds in Cheyenne. Her booksinclude In Search of Kinship and ShiftingStars. In addition, Lambert has hadher work published in more than 20anthologies including Open Range: Poetryof the Reimagined West and Home Land:Ranching and a West that Works. For moreinformation on Lambert, visit her website at www.pagelambert.com.Speaking: 9 a.m., Saturday, Nature &Outdoors TentBook signing: 10:30 a.m., SaturdayPanel: Moderator, At Home in Nature,Noon, Saturday, Plains HotelWorkshop: Nature Writing, 2:30 p.m.,Friday, Laramie County Library-SunflowerRoomWyoming Library Roundup • Summer 2007 17
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Summer 2007 - the Wyoming State Library

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