The power of story
SkyWords Visiting Writers Series connects students and the Durango community with emerging and established writers in dialogue about the power of story.
SkyWords provides a space for engagement in discussion about narrative, writing craft, and the big ideas engaging our culture. The diversity of voices, backgrounds, traditions, and visions for the future showcased by SkyWords writers captures the possibilities writing offers for connection, understanding, and change.
SkyWords, the Four Corners Water Center, and the Political Engagement Project present the 2025 SkyWords Water Stories Project, a year-long exploration of how water shapes our lives and landscapes.
Water Stories features two nonfiction texts: A Walk in the Park by Kevin Fedarko and Water Bodies, edited by Laura Paskus. These works honor water as creation, sustenance, rebirth, and renewal and guide conversations around five questions:
For copies of the books, contact Candace Nadon.
Kevin Fedarko has spent two decades writing about adventure, conservation, and the Grand Canyon. His work appears in National Geographic, The New York Times, and Esquire, and a trio of his stories is anthologized in The Best American Travel Writing.
His acclaimed debut The Emerald Mile became a New York Times bestseller and won the National Outdoor Book Award and the Reading the West Award. His latest book, A Walk in the Park: The True Story of a Spectacular Misadventure in the Grand Canyon, is also a New York Times bestseller and winner of the 2025 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction.
Event Details:Wednesday, Oct. 9 • Student Union Ballroom • Doors open 5:30 pmTickets: Free for FLC students, faculty, and staff • $25 for community members
Tuesday, Nov. 12 • Noble 130 • 6 pmReading, conversation, and book signing with Cristi Bode, CMarie Fuhrman, Laura Paskus, Santana Shorty, and Regina Lopez-Whiteskunk.Bios coming soon.
View Past Events
Thursday, September 19 | Vallecito Room | Free and open to the public.
Darcie Little Badger is a Lipan Apache writer with a Ph.D. in oceanography. Her critically acclaimed debut novel, Elatsoe, was featured in Time Magazine as one of the best 100 fantasy books of all time. Elatsoe also won the Locus award for Best First Novel and is a Nebula, Ignyte, and Lodestar finalist. Her second fantasy novel, A Snake Falls to Earth, received a Nebula Award, an Ignyte Award, and a Newbery Honor and was on the National Book Awards longlist.
As we approach the consequential Fall 2024 election, this year's series will also dive into the core of civic engagement by presenting diverse perspectives on what it means to be a citizen today.
Our Common Reading Experience features transformative texts that challenge and expand our understanding of citizenship in civic, cultural, and professional contexts. SkyWords connects students and the Durango community with writers, scholars, and artists in a dialogue that fosters connection, understanding, and change. Join us as we harness the power of story to envision inclusive and effective citizenship.
Engage in discussions about narrative, writing craft, and the big ideas shaping our world, guided by these voices this fall:
Email: canadon@fortlewis.edu
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