Gary Snyder Speaking in Chico

Gary Snyder, Northern California's own Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, will be speaking on Friday, March 2, at 7:30 p.m. in Laxson Auditorium as part of the "On the Creek" lecture series at California State University, Chico. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Gary Snyder's talk at Chico will draw on his new book of essays, "Back on the Fire." This new offering brings together writings and talks of the last 10 years on subjects ranging from trail crew and wildfire reminiscences to Snyder's poetic history with haiku while living in Japan; from Sierra timber management debates to literary talks given in Paris and Tokyo on art and archetypes. His writing looks back to 40,000 year-old-cave art and forward to a hope for a 1000-year future North American forest plan.

"Back on the Fire" is a series of meditations on art, labor and the making of cultures, families, houses and homesteads. When describing his newest work, Snyder says, "Just as we need to make friends with fire, we also need to be on good terms with impermanence, error and vulnerability-in the process of sharpening and refining both a personal life and a long-term sustainable society."

Snyder has been recognized for his many contributions, not just to literature, but also to ecological literature. His poetry includes: "Riprap," Origin Press, 1959; "Riprap and Cold Mountain Poems," Four Seas Foundation, 1965; "Mountains and Rivers Without End," Four Seasons Foundation, 1965; "Earth House Hold," New Directions, 1969; "Turtle Island," New Directions, 1974; "Axe Handles," North Point Press, 1983; "Left out in the Rain," North Point Press, 1986; and "No Nature," Pantheon Books, 1992.

His "Mountain and Rivers Without End" project was begun on April 8, 1956 and is considered an "epic of geology, prehistory and mythology." When Snyder published this volume in 1996, he was awarded the honorable Bollingen Poetry Prize, the Robert Kirsch Lifetime Achievement Award (from the LA Times), the Orion Society's John Hay Award, the 1997 Award for Poetry from the Mountains & Plains Booksellers Association, and the Freedom of Expression Award from Focus magazine. He also won a Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1975 for "Turtle Island," and his "No Nature" was a finalist for the National Book Award in 1992.

While Snyder is in Chico, he will be visiting several classes and interacting with students, faculty and staff who are involved in campus sustainability efforts.

Snyder's visit to CSU, Chico is sponsored by the Office of the Provost and is part of the "On The Creek" lecture series. This lecture series explores the sustainability issues that affect our world today by featuring reputable and knowledgeable speakers and authors who address environmental issues and government and corporate responsibility.

 

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