Spoken Words

Tom Johnson is a respected professional. He’s the Chief Performance Officer of the Wyoming Business Council, he has a wife and two children, he was even a star baseball player in high school and college. But he also has a secret, filed under Aden Thomas .

JJ Anselmi ’s memoir is a gritty tale of growing up in a railroad town defined by coal, oil, and a sketchy history. Anselmi talks to us about what a place like Rock Springs can do to a teenage identity, and what it taught him about living a DIY life.

JJ Anselmi ’s memoir is a gritty tale of growing up in a railroad town defined by coal, oil, and a sketchy history. Anselmi talks to us about what a place like Rock Springs can do to a teenage identity, and what it taught him about living a DIY life.

The difference between poetry and slam poetry is vibrant and apparent in this interview with University of Wyoming PhD student, Marlin Holmes. Taking inspiration from rap, hip-hop, and a high school English assignment, Holmes discusses his passion for the spoken word, and shares some of his creations; rotating between narratives of identity and race, and the journey of finding love.

The difference between poetry and slam poetry is vibrant and apparent in this interview with University of Wyoming PhD student, Marlin Holmes. Taking inspiration from rap, hip-hop, and a high school English assignment, Holmes discusses his passion for the spoken word, and shares some of his creations; rotating between narratives of identity and race, and the journey of finding love.

While training for the Olympics, Janine Shepherd suffered a devastating accident. In Defiant , she depicts the nightmare that followed the accident and the new gifts the experience has given her.

While training for the Olympics, Janine Shepherd suffered a devastating accident. In Defiant , she depicts the nightmare that followed the accident and the new gifts the experience has given her.

Reliving her years of living in the Nebraska sand hills, Shannon Baker discusses the splendor of the land and how it inspired the perfect setting for her new mystery Stripped Bare. Even with murder playing the main roll, Shannon describes the inspiration she gained from the interesting and particular people she has met throughout her life.

Reliving her years of living in the Nebraska sand hills, Shannon Baker discusses the splendor of the land and how it inspired the perfect setting for her new mystery Stripped Bare. Even with murder playing the main roll, Shannon describes the inspiration she gained from the interesting and particular people she has met throughout her life.

From an industry job in Colorado, to aliens abducting New York, John Stith presents and interesting and entertaining perspective of his writing career. He takes the time to describe his clashes with creativity, perseverance, and his undying respect for the laws of physics.

C.J. Box , bestselling Wyoming author, reads from the latest in his Joe Pickett series, Vicious Circle. He talks about what it means for a story to be a western, getting people to reveal state secrets, and why he’ll never retire to Florida.

Bruce Smith , an ecologist and former manager of the wildlife and conservation programs at the National Elk Refuge, talks about the passions that took him from Michigan to the most remote reaches of Wyoming. He reads from his new book, Stories From Afield: Adventures with Wild Things in Wild Places , on the expected and unexpected challenges of conservation.

Journalist Sara Hayden talks about the challenges of recreating a disjointed family history from Colorado to China and back. She reads from her essay, Living Room , and details the influence that growing up mixed race in Wyoming has had on her writing.

Wyoming writer Matt Daly talks about his collection of poetry and the every day, small town moments that make up his particular perspective of the rural west. In three poems, Daly uses his writing to depict the struggle and beauty of past and present relationships between neighbors, friends, family, and everything in between.

Bestselling author Jeff Guinn reads from (and remembers the awfully painful research for) Silver City , the final book in his Cash McLendon trilogy. And though his books are set in the late 1800s, he finds distinct parallels between the journalism of the past and today’s “alternative facts.”