Truth: I’m not a big follower of cowboys/country/The West. My roommate puts on Tim McGraw, and I put on my headphones. And what I consider the Wild West is, well, San Francisco. I’m also not much into poetry; I wish I was better at writing/understanding it, but I’m not. But cowboys and poetry together?

Apparently, the West gets won by word-weaving cowboys every January when the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering, produced by the Western Folklife Center, rolls into Elko, NV.

“Many people are drawn to this art form because of its authenticity,” said Darcy Minter, External Communications Director for the Gathering. “It is not an ‘elite’ poetry, but a ‘peoples’ poetry.”

The twenty-fifth annual event recently took place, from January 24th-31st, and it consisted of a lot more than sensitive westerners divulging their innermost thoughts and emotions.

“It’s a powerful magnet for creativity, where the art serves as a catalyst for so many things,” said Minter. “It educates people about the realities of the contemporary ranching West; it promotes understanding among people from urban and rural communities; it builds meaningful relationships, feeds souls, connects people to each other and to the land.”

The Youth Workshops

For those wee westerners eager to hone their cowboy skills at a young age, the National Poetry Gathering was the spot to be. The “Whip Out a Yodel with Wylie” workshop featured Wylie Gustafson, the “Cowboy King of Yodel,” teaching the youths of the west how to manipulate their voices to a tee. Re-enactment of the marionette puppet show in The Sound of Music, anyone? And the “Shoot Out Elko!” workshop was NOT about hunting but rather a way for kids to document the Gathering with digital cameras.

The Exhibit

“Between Grass and Sky” is an exhibit developed by the Western Folklife Center (which puts on the Gathering) and the Nevada Museum of Art. Though still open (and will be through May 2009 for some parts and August 2009 for others), it was a prime part of the Poetry Gathering. Various artworks like oil paintings and sculptures, as well as cowboy gear from saddles to reins are on display to pay homage to life in America’s West.

Performances

Forget Kanye and Twilight. At the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering, singers like Cowboy Celtic and Asleep at the Wheel took the main stage for live performances, while the western flick Shane illuminated the silver screen in a Saloon dinner-and-a-movie affair.

There was even a performance of a play, “A Ride With Bob,” centered on the life of Western swing musician and bandleader Bob Wills, which featured fifteen of his own songs. And of course, there was the poetry. Cowboys waxed poetic about ranch life and beyond. According to the Western Folk Life Web site, popular members Paul Zarzyski and Wally McRae were scheduled to “deliver wild and untamed poetry and prose without restraint.”

Many artists submit applications and poetry samples for a selection committee to review, but amateurs can get in on the game too. Said Minter, “We do have open mic sessions for both poets and musicians. Anyone who signs up can participate in these.”

The breadth of the event definitely reflects the effort that went into getting it under way so many years ago. Though Minter says cowboys have been poets since the 1850s and 60s, the road to the Gathering started with Western folklorists coming together at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC in the late 1970s.

“The NEA [National Endowment for the Arts] had started to fund folk arts projects and the western folklorists decided that a cowboy poetry gathering would be a great way to present this traditional art form,” said Minter. “After a few tries, they got their funding, and began the search for cowboy and cowgirl poets from various ranching communities. “The big idea was to showcase and help preserve the art form and to educate people about the ranching [and] cowboy culture.”

Contrary to some thoughts (also my belief, before I researched this piece), cowboy culture wasn’t dying out before this, and the Gathering isn’t just some vehicle for revitalization. “I think that Western life has always been vital,” said Minter, a Westerner herself. “Events like the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering have helped spread the word and encouraged those in the culture to express themselves in a more public way.”

The Gathering is an important event for putting preconceived notions of ranch-life to rest, and it instills continued pride in westerners. Said Minter, “It helps us to be proud of our cultural and artistic traditions, [and] also encourages people to look beyond their own stereotypes and see people as layered, complex, and multi-dimensional. It helps preserve a way of life and living that people value and fear is being lost.”