Ray Gonzalez, poet, prose writer, and editor, opens the 2003 Greyrock Institute on Wednesday, June 18th, at 7:00 p.m. at the Fort Collins Senior Center, 1200 Raintree Drive. Morton Marcus, writing for MetroActive Books, observes, "What makes his work unique is that the person speaking from his writings is not just a resident of the barrio. While he is conscious of the conflicting social forces around him, he remains acutely aware of the historical and mythic implications of being born in the peculiar location of desert, city, border, river and bridge that define the boundaries of his world."

Ray Gonzalez's latest book is Circling the Tortilla Dragon, a collection of short-short stories. Other books include Memory Fever, a memoir about growing up in the Southwest; Turtle Pictures, which received the 2001 Minnesota Book Award for Poetry; and The Underground Heart: A Return to a Hidden Landscape, which has won numerous awards. He has published poetry, short stories, and creative nonfiction. In addition he has edited twelve anthologies. He is a Professor in the MFA Creative Writing Program at the University of Minnesota and the poetry editor of the Bloomsbury Review. His awards include a 2002 Loft McKnight Fellowship in Poetry and a 1998 Colorado Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts.

Laura Pritchett, Veronica Patterson, and Todd Shimoda come together to read selections from their work. Join us for a reading, reception, and book signing on Friday, June 20, at 7:00 p.m. at the Fort Collins Museum of Contemporary Art, 201 S. College Ave.

Greyrock Institute workshops bring together readers and writers of all interests and experiences with seasoned teachers of writing and literature. Select from workshops that explore writing processes from generating to publishing your work, and cover a range of topics and genres. Workshops will be held on the Colorado State University campus and at the University Park Holiday Inn. Free parking passes will be mailed to all registered participants. Follow the links for detailed descriptions of each workshop.

Artist and writer Tamara Sayre will lead this special children's workshop. Participants will combine writing with drawing to create a birthday card for the library, then see the cards on display at the Friday Reading and Reception and (later) at the Library. Supplies provided. No enrollment required.

The following sponsors have contributed to the Greyrock Institute. Thanks for your support.

To learn more about the Institute, please call us at (970) 491-6428 or send email to Jill Darling at darlingj@lamar.colostate.edu. To view information about past Institutes, view our archives. To learn about the people behind the Greyrock Institute, visit our information page.