The Brewster County Tourism Council and Visit Big Bend welcomes Texas Poets Laureate Karla K. Morton and Alan Birkelbach with singer-songwriter Lisa Carver, as they present two programs in our area October 27-28 in celebration of the poets’ award-winning, historic book: “The National Parks: A Century of Grace.”
Karla K. Morton was named Texas Poet Laureate in 2010 and is a member of the Texas Institute of Letters. With 15 poetry collections, Morton is the recipient of numerous awards, including the prestigious Western Heritage Award, Eric Hoffer Award, Betsy Colquitt Award and Indie Book Award. Alan Birkelbach, with 12 poetry collections, was named the Texas Poet Laureate in 2005. He is a member of the Teas Institute of Letters, the Academy of American Poets and the National Park Foundation. He is a winner of the Western Writers of America Spur Award and a two-time international Indie Book Award finalist.
Both poets traveled to all 62 National Parks across 4 years to create the poetry and photos in their book, published by TCU Press in December 2020. Along with bringing an awareness to help preserve our country’s National Parks, the co-authors are donating a percentage of all book proceeds back to the Park System.
During the events, Morton and Birkelbach will perform poetry readings and discuss their 4-year National Parks tour and their one-of-a-kind book. Award-winning singer-songwriter Lisa Carver will also perform. Carver spent years in Nashville writing songs for artists including Jewel, Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson and others. She relocated to the high desert of northern New Mexico in 2015 and has been inspired by the similar landscape of Big Bend in her songwriting to accompany the poetry.
Performances will take place over two nights in the Big Bend area and will be free to the public. The first performance will be held at the 12 Gage restaurant in Marathon, Texas on October 27th from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm. The second performance will take place at the Museum of the Big Bend in Alpine, Texas from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm.