Ben Mitchell, director of exhibitions at the Nicolaysen Art Museum in Casper, notified wyolitmail about a publication that writers don’t think much about: monographs. I had to look up the term, as I didn’t really know what it was either. High school Latin tells me that the mono prefix means “one” or “single.” So if you said that monograph means “one paragraph” you’d be pretty close to the truth. It’s a scholarly tract on a specific or limited subject (usually more than a single paragraph). The Nic’s new monograph is "Marie Watt: Blanket Stories, Almanac." It’s for the museum’s new exhibition in the Contemporary American Indian Art Series. The book, Mitchell, says is 52 pages with more than 30 full-color plates “and quite beautifully designed.” It includes “a lovely, lyrical essay on Marie's work (and much more) by the important Acoma (N.M.) Pueblo poet, Simon Ortiz.” The price is $25 at the museum store, and may be ordered directly from the Nic for $30 which includes tax, packing and shipping. I have read a lot of poetry by Simon Ortiz, but not much prose. He’s been a frequent visitor to Wyoming, serving as a creative writing fellowship judge for the 1994 awards and he’s visited the Wind River Reservation and a number of WYO schools. The exhibition will be at the Nic through Sept. 5. (Photo: "Blanket Stacks," by Marie Watt.)
- posted by Michael Shay @ 1:16 PM