Living in a rural area far from large numbers of people can have advantages in terms of peace of mind, pace of life, and closeness to nature. One drawback, however, is in access to things that tend to accompany, if not to require, those large populations. If you live in parts of Sanpete County, you have to travel to shop or to see most movies. The nearest bookstore to Snow College is 80 miles. Some cultural events, like the symphony, do come visiting, but rarely. The saving grace is that when they do, an audience awaits that, despite its small size, has a keen appetite. This may explain the Tanner Lecture series, which every year brings an important speaker to the Snow campus. Ironically, such events often transcend their local importance and force jaded, big-city audiences to reverse the flow of traffic. It happened a few years ago, when Elie Wiesel, the Holocaust survivor and best-selling author, brought an audience from all over the state.
This year’s guest lecturer is Billy Collins, former poet laureate of the United States and frequent guest on NPR radio’s Prairie Home Companion. Author of The Art of Drowning, Sailing Alone Around the Room, Questions About Angels, Nine Horses, and Picnic, Lightning, Collins is widely known for writing accessible, yet satisfying verse on themes of universal familiarity. In the January 15 Bytes his stories-in-verse served as a point of comparison for appreciating BYU poet Lance Larsen. Unknown to his huge fan club, however, Collins has another connection to Utah; he travels here frequently to hike the southern deserts and absorb their scenic grandeur. Such visits have made him a natural for the Tanner Lecture, where he will read Thursday night, in the Eccles Center on the Snow Campus in Ephraim, from 7 pm until 8:30.
