New book to be released April, 2013
Denton, TX – February 18, 2013 – Karla K. Morton, the 2010 Texas Poet Laureate, today announced that her next book, Hometown, Texas: Young Poets and Artists Celebrate Their Roots, will be released in April, 2013 and published by TCU Press. Twenty-four Texas towns are featured in the book: Amarillo, Arlington, Bastrop, Beaumont, Brenham, Bonham, Bowie, Comfort, Cleburne, Denton, Euless, Granbury, Hardin, Justin, Kyle, Krum, Laredo, Mansfield, Marfa, Mesquite, Port Aransas, Round Rock, Salado and Texarkana.
After being named the 2010 Texas Poet Laureate, Morton decided that despite there being no requirements or compensation for the title, she wanted to give back to her home state by taking poetry into secondary schools throughout Texas. To do that, she created the Little Town, Texas Tour. During the 18-month tour, she logged 80,000 miles on her truck and visited 32 schools. Along the way, she also spoke at universities, conferences, civic organizations, bookstores, libraries and cancer support groups, visiting a total of 42 towns for more than 70 speaking engagements. A culmination of that tour is the book Hometown, Texas, which includes poetry, photography and artwork from Karla and students across Texas. Each poem and piece of art was inspired, in some way, by the student’s hometown.
“This book began as a dream of mine, as I embarked upon the first leg of my 80,000-mile trek, zigzagging across Texas and back home to Denton throughout the 18-month Little Town, Texas Tour,” said Morton. “I am so honored to be among the great artists and poets in this book. I am confident that these Texas students will lead and inspire the next generation. They span diverse landscapes and circumstances, but they share an ability to express themselves in ways that will inspire anyone who picks up this one-of-a-kind collection.”
Morton will be hitting the road again for a Hometown, Texas book tour, starting in April, 2013 and is currently looking for sponsors and speaking engagements that would allow her to return to each of the 24 towns in the book.
For more information about Karla K. Morton or to book her as a speaker, please visit www.kkmorton.com. If you are interested in sponsoring her Hometown, Texas book tour, please contact Kelly Kirkendoll at kelly@thrivepublicrelations.com. To pre-order Hometown, Texas, go to www.barnesandnoble.com, www.amazon.com or contact TCU Press at 817.257.7822.
About Karla K. Morton
Karla K. Morton, the 2010 Texas Poet Laureate and a member of the Texas Institute of Letters, is a celebrated poet, author, speaker and photographer. A Betsy Colquitt Award Winner, a two-time Indie Book Award Winner and a two-time Pushcart Prize nominee, she has been widely published in literary journals, and is the author of eight books of poetry: Wee Cowrin’ Timorous Beastie (a 17th Century Scottish epic book/CD created in collaboration with award-winning composer Howard Baer); Becoming Superman (Rogers Publishing/Wheeler Press), Redefining Beauty, a journey through cancer diagnosis, chemo, radiation and recovery (Dos Gatos Press, 2nd printing); Stirring Goldfish, a Sufi poetry book (Finishing Line Press), Names We’ve Never Known (Texas Review Press); Karla K. Morton: New and Selected Poems (TCU Press), Passion, Art, Community: Denton, Texas in Word and Image (The City of Denton, Texas) and 8 Voices: Contemporary Poetry from the American Southwest, a collaborate work written by Morton and 7 other prominent contemporary poets in the American southwest (Baskerville Publishing). Another book, No End of Vision: Texas as Seen by Two Laureates, features Ms. Morton’s black and white photography combined with poetry written by 2005 Texas Poet Laureate Alan Birkelbach. A traveling photography and poetry exhibit by the same name is also being shown in museums and galleries in Texas. Morton’s next book - Hometown, Texas - is scheduled to be released in April, 2013 by TCU Press; it’s a collaboration of poetry and art with students across Texas, written as part of Morton’s Little Town, Texas Tour. Described as “one of the more adventurous voices in American poetry,” Ms. Morton has been featured on Good Morning Texas, NPR, ABC News, CBS News and in countless newspapers, blogs and magazines. She is frequently invited to present as a keynote speaker at conventions, conferences, bookstores, universities, festivals and schools. An avid photographer, Morton has also had many showings of her black and white artwork, has been nominated for the honor of the Texas 2D Artist and loves to mix poetry with other art forms. Morton was born in Fort Worth, holds a Journalism degree from Texas A&M University and currently resides in Denton, Texas. For more information, please visit www.kkmorton.com or www.facebook.com/karlakmorton.