Prairie Knights: Western and Cowboy Poetry

Publisher Marketing: "Prairie Knights," the name of this book, simply recognizes the work and dedication of those who tamed and shaped the Great American West. They were a diverse body of adventurers, pioneers, ranchers, and cowboys who addressed and conquered the many challenges of the western scene. They were white, black, and brown knights who rode, as did the Knights of old, against the dragons of their time. Here are pages of discovery -- the reality, the humor, and the pathos of life in rural America. An award-winning author, Clark Crouch, brings back to life the Great American West through western and cowboy poetry inspired by Charles Badger Clark, the classic cowboy poet. Here are poetic tales of our American West drawn from the author's own youthful experience as a cowboy growing up during the Great Depression and experiencing years of drought in the Sandhills of Nebraska. This book captures his viewpoints and reveals his biases as he shares poetic tales of western living yesterday and today. Clark Crouch is the author of "Western Images" which won the 2008 Will Rogers Medallion Award for Cowboy Poetry and "Views from the Saddle" which won that same award in 2010. In addition to nine other books, he has edited and published three anthologies..."Eight Viewpoints, Poetic Reflections At The Creekside," and "Western Viewpoints."..which together offer an eclectic collection of modern and traditional poetry by more than 50 contemporary poets. Contributor Bio:  Crouch, Clark Clark Crouch, an American poet and a self-proclaimed Poet Lariat, is a prize-winning western and cowboy poet, author, lyricist, and performing artist. His viewpoints and biases were shaped by his youthful experience as a cowboy and growing up during the Great Depression and years of drought in the Sandhills of Nebraska. The author of ten books of poetry, seven of which are devoted to traditional western and cowboy verse, he is a two-time winner of the prestigious Will Rogers Medallion Award for Cowboy Poetry and a five-time finalist in the annual Western Music Association's book award competitions. His interest in poetry began in the early 1940s with the encouragement of Charles Badger Clark, the classic cowboy poet who was then Poet Laureate of South Dakota, and shortly thereafter wrote his first prize-winning poem, "Cowboys." When he was 73, after a 60 year hiatus, he started writing poetry and performing professionally throughout the Northwestern United States, including Wyoming. He was inspired by three individuals: Will Rogers who was his hero during the early 1930s; Badger Clark, his 1940s acquaintance (cited above); and Sherman Alexie, a Native American poet, novelist, screen-writer and performer who, in 2001, encouraged him to return to writing poetry.