Romtvedt, award-winning Wyoming author, to speak in Chester

Press release

David Romtvedt, an award winning author, former Wyoming Poet Laureate and musician, will visit Liberty Village Arts Center Saturday, Nov. 14, at 7 p.m.

This event will include a reading from his new novel, "Zelestina Urza in Outer Space," discussion about Basque history and the performance of Basque music on the trikitixa accordion and the piano by Romtvedt and Chester musician Philip Aaberg.

"Zelestina Urza in Outer Space" follows the lives of two women in northern Wyoming - a Basque immigrant and a half Cheyenne, half Arapaho orphan. The author's sharply humorous style, full of pop and literary references, blends the historical and magical into an engaging conversation with the reader.

"Zelestina Urza" is a piercing look at the American West of the 20th century, showing two women, one immigrant, one native, both outsiders from the traditional narrative of Manifest Destiny.

Romtvedt's books of poetry include "Certainty," "How Many Horses," "Some Church" and "A Flower Whose Name I Do Not Know," which won the National Poetry Series award. His work has been selected for the Pushcart Prize and for two National Endowment for the Arts fellowships, one in poetry and the other an international fellowship in poetry and music.

He is a recipient of a Wyoming Arts Council literature fellowship and the Wyoming Governor's Arts Award. Romtvedt serves as faculty member in the masters in fine arts  program for writers at University of Wyoming. He is a founder and current board member of Worlds of Music, a foundation devoted to giving people the opportunity to participate in the making of music from cultures around the world.

With the Fireants he has produced three recordings: "It's Hot (About Three Weeks a Year)," "Bury My Clothes," and "Ants On Ice."

The music is influenced by Cajun and Creole music of Louisiana, by Conjunto music of Texas, by the African-American string band tradition of the North Carolina Piedmont, and by the coastal musics of northern Colombia.

Books will be available for purchase and signing by the author, free will donations will be taken at the door.