Ms. Poling-Kempes. Courtesy photoTCHS News:
The Taos County Historical Society will present a free, public lecture “Ladies of the Canyons” by Lesley Poling-Kempes at 2 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 1, in the Boardroom of Kit Carson Electric Co-op, 118 Cruz Alta Rd., Taos, NM.
This program is a partnership with the Taos Arts Council and featured in the Taos Fall Arts Festival through the Society’s participation in the 2016 Taos Visionaries theme for the community’s arts and cultural organizations.
Ms. Poling-Kempes will share her experiences researching and writing “Ladies of the Canyons” and the stories she uncovered about these extraordinary women – Natalie Curtis, Alice Klauber, Carol Stanley and Mary Cabot Wheelwright – and their impact upon New Mexico.
The talk will also share the personal and professional adventure a writer undertakes when she seeks to find and piece together the stories of peoople who have gone missing in history. “If we are very lucky we unearth a marvelous narrative that enlarges and enhances our sense of time, place and story”, says the author Ms. Poling-Kempes.
Lesley Poling-Kempes is the award winning author of fiction and nonfiction books about the American Southwest, including “Bone Horses” winner of the 2014 WILLA Literary Award for Contemporary Fiction and the Tony Hillerman Award. “The Harvey Girls: Women Who Opened the West” was the winner of the Zia Award and recently optioned for a television series.
Other publications include “Valley of Shining Stone: The Story of Abiquiu,” and “Ghost Ranch” Her first novel “Canyon of Remembering” was a Western Writers of American Spur Award finalist. Lesley Poling-Kempes lives in Abiquiu, New Mexico.
The Taos County Historical Society is a 501-c-3 non-profit organization founded in 1952 and dedicated to the recording and preserving of the irreplaceable in Taos County. Membership is open to anyone upon the payment of dues.
For additional information on the programs, activities and history of Taos visit the Society’s website.
