Wyatt Townley is an American poet, author, and
yoga
Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consciou ...
instructor, honored as the fourth
Kansas
Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...
Poet Laureate
A poet laureate (plural: poets laureate) is a poet officially appointed by a government or conferring institution, typically expected to compose poems for special events and occasions. Albertino Mussato of Padua and Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch) ...
(2013–2015).
Biography
Townley is a fourth-generation Kansan and she currently lives in
Shawnee Mission.
Kansas Poet Laureate
Through the Kansas Humanities Council, Townley is offering a series of programs, including workshops, lectures, and readings.
Kansas Humanities Council booking information
/ref>
Honors and awards
* Nelson Poetry Book Award for ''The Afterlives of Trees''
* Kansas Notable Book for ''The Afterlives of Trees''
* The Pushcart Prize, nominee
* ''To the Stars'' poetry contest winner, sponsored by the Kansas Arts Commission Centering the House" and "Inside the Snow Globe" selected from ''The Afterlives of Trees''
Publications
* ''Perfectly Normal'' (Brooklyn, NY: The Smith), 1990.
* ''The Breathing Field: Meditations on Yoga'' (Boston: Little, Brown and Co.), 2002.
* ''Yoganetics: Be Fit, Healthy, and Relaxed One Breath at a Time'' (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco), 2003. eprinted in 2004 by HarperCollins World* ''Kansas City Ballet: The First Fifty Years'' (Kansas City, MO: Rockhill Books), 2007.
* ''The Afterlives of Trees: Poems'' (Topeka, KS: Woodley Press), 2011.
Anthologies
* Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg
Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg is an American poet, writer and professor, honored as the third Kansas Poet Laureate (2009–2012). A professor at Goddard College, a private, liberal arts college in Plainfield, Vermont, she serves as the coordinator fo ...
(ed.). ''Begin Again: 150 Kansas Poems'' (Topeka, KS: Woodley Press), 2011.
See also
* List of U.S. states' Poets Laureate
Many of the states in the United States have established the post of poet laureate to which a prominent poet residing in the respective state is appointed. The responsibilities of the state poets laureate are similar to those of the Poet Laureat ...
Notes
References
Townley named Poet Laureate of Kansas
External links
Celebrating Kansas’ Sesquicentenial
{{DEFAULTSORT:Townley, Wyatt
1954 births
Living people
People from Johnson County, Kansas
Poets Laureate of Kansas
Writers from Kansas