It's a real honor and privilege to bring
the works of so many writers, so many really terrific poets
to this collection and a good handful to the audience here.
Thank you for coming out.
And I think you're going to have a real treat tonight.
I'm just going to launch into the readers
because I think that's the most important part
of this collection.
And the first reader is going to be Travis Hedge
Coke who is actually associate editor as well in the edition.
He was my right hand man during the making of the book
and there are parts he organized that no one knows but he and I.
And so sometimes he'll ask people
to say what part do you think I did and let them
guess but we never divulge.
Travis Hedge Coke says he lives and breathes in America.
He's from mixed ethnicity of complicated culture.
He feels reluctant about mentioning either in bios
yet is compelled.
He has publications in Many Mountains Moving, Mountain
from the View, Dead Pretty Boys, Yellow Medicine,
Birthmark Anthology from IAIA, Naropa Summer Magazine,
and Gatherings.
He's read from New York City to Amman, Jordan
and currently co-edits Future Earth
an online lit and arts journal where he happily
showcases all manner of great writers, artists,
and musicians.
Hedgecock has an MFA from the University of California
Riverside and teaches writing at the University of Nebraska
Kearney.
His descent includes Huron, Choctaw, Cherokee, and Creek.
Travis Hedge Coke.
[APPLAUSE]