Bigfork library hosts poet lecture series with Montana Poet Laureate Chris La Tray

Flathead County Library kicks off a Montana Poet Lecture Series Nov. 8 with a presentation by Montana Poet Laureate Chris La Tray as part to the Montana Conversations program sponsored by Humanities Montana.  

La Tray is the author of “One-Sentence Journal: Short Poems and Essays from the World at Large.” His latest book published this year is titled, “Becoming Little Shell." 

La Tray, a Métis storyteller and Little Shell Chippewa member, approaches the practice of poetry the same way he does the spiritual life of an Anishinaabe person. This is to say if one lives an Anishinaabe life with attention to the guiding principles of the Seven Grandfather teachings — humility, courage, honesty, wisdom, truth, respect, and love — then every footstep becomes a prayer. Similarly, if approaching poetry by recognizing that everything that happens may be viewed as a poem and that every moment in life is an experience best paid constant and careful attention to, then every footstep becomes a poem. Whether as words on a page or shared orally, poetry becomes another means for telling and sharing stories.  

La Tray’s programs exist to remind people that their stories matter; they are the only ones who can properly tell them; and poetry, however it is defined, is a means of doing so. 

The program will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. in the Community Room at the library located at 168 Bridge St., Bigfork. The presentation is free and open to the public. A handbound notebook making activity will accompany this lecture. 

The poetry series is partially funded by the ImagineIF Library Foundation and Humanities Montana through grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Montana’s Cultural Trust, and private donations. The program is also funded in part by coal severance taxes paid based upon coal mined in Montana and deposited in state cultural and aesthetic projects trust fund. 

For more information, visit www.imagineiflibraries.org.