Author Gretel Ehrlich Speaks at Neltje Center

The University of Wyoming’s Neltje Center for Excellence in Creativity and the Arts (Neltje Center), held a public reading with author Gretel Ehrlich Saturday, May 20, in the Turned Antiques building on Piney Road.

Michelle Sullivan, UW Trustee, talked about the Neltje center

“I’m grateful to have you all here,” she added

Beth Venn, new executive director of the center, introduced Ehrlich.

Ehrlich is the recipient of many awards and fellowships, including a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Whiting Award, four Expedition grants from National Geographic, the Henry David Thoreau Award from PEN, the award for nonfiction from PEN West, and an award from the American Academy of Arts and Sciences for distinguished prose. She recently was inducted into the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame in Fort Worth, Texas.

Ehrlich read excerpts from several of her books, the first one was from Unsolaced, Along the Way to All That Is, she said that she arrived in Wyoming during one of the worst winters ever in Wyoming, the winter of 1975, and said this about her experience.

She read excerpts from several of her other works, including from Solace of Open Spaces, about the Wyoming landscape.

She also read from Match to the Heart, about her experience being struck by lightning, and This Cold Heaven, Seven Seasons in Greenland, a book about her experiences there.

There were several of Ehrlich’s books for sale and for Erlich to sign for the purchasers. There was also a book, North of Crazy, a Memoir by Neltje.

The Neltje Center provides a platform to link higher education with the arts and humanities in one of the most scenic locations in the country. The center is named after Neltje, a renowned painter and philanthropist who in 2001 founded the Jentel Artist Residency.

The Neltje Center will include programming, educational opportunities, events, and workshops at the UW campus in Laramie, in the Sheridan region, and in coordination with the Jentel Artist Residency. Beyond these locations, the Neltje Center is poised to create and support activities that are statewide, regional, national, and virtual.

Around 40 people attended the public event, and there was an invite-only reception at 5 p.m. for Erlich.