southwest

In a land where everything seems to sting, bite or prickle one creature stands out for its almost friendly demeanor. In his latest Canyon Commentary, author Scott Thybony reveals the secrets of the remarkable horned lizard, a reptile found throughout the West.

Renowned Southwestern artist Ed Mell has died at the age of 81 after a long illness. The Phoenix-based painter and sculptor was known for his works inspired by the landscape and culture of the Colorado Plateau and Sonoran Desert.

In this week's segment of KNAU's series PoetrySnaps!, we meet Utah-based poet and professor Danielle Dubrasky. She wrote her first collection of poetry when she was in third grade. At the time, she couldn’t have known that someday her passion for the artform would help her grieve the loss of her father.

What could be rarer than diamonds? Turquoise, actually! Natural gemstone-grade turquoise happens to be one of the rarest natural materials on our planet, and one that has been celebrated, collected, and coveted worldwide. Here in the Southwest, turquoise holds special significance to many Native cultures.

Writer Wendy Videlock describes poetic inspiration as being ambushed. An idea emerges and then tells her where to go. In her poem, Deconstruction, Videlock, uses an array of bird species to symbolize the infinite experience of being human.

There are two things in particular poet Steven Nightingale loves about his craft: the sonnet, and Emily Dickinson. In this week’s PoetrySnaps! segment, he combines the two in a sonnet he wrote for his favorite American poet. Here is Steven Nightingale with, We Who Would Call Emily Dickinson Back.

In this week’s segment, we meet Colorado-based poet José Alcantara. He prefers to write outside so that his muse, Mother Nature, can find him and offer him inspiration. Alcantara says he doesn’t write within a human timeframe. Instead, he writes according to nature’s eternal clock. Here is José Alcantara with his poem To a Friend Who Does Not Believe in God.

The U.S. Interior Department has created a new funding program designed to improve the sustainability of the Colorado River.

In this week's segment of KNAU's series PoetrySnaps! we hear from David M. Parsons, a prolific writer and former Texas Poet Laureate. When he is struck by inspiration, he writes ideas down on small pieces of paper which he later develops into poems. That’s how Parsons’ poem, I Would Give You the Single Strawberry, came to life.

Migrants held by U.S. authorities at a detention center in rural New Mexico say they have endured retaliation rather than aid after reporting unsanitary conditions at the government-contracted jail.