CHARLIE SEEMANN

The executive director of the Western Folklife Center in Elko, Nevada, which hosts the prestigious National Cowboy Poetry Gathering every January.

Best Western I Saw:
True Grit (the new one).

Best Book I Read This Year:
Bone Rattler: A Mystery of Colonial America by Eliot Pattison.

Book I Loved:
Paul Zarzyski’s 51: 30 Poems, 20 Lyrics, 1 Self-Interview.

Best Concert:
Geno Delafose and French Rockin’ Boogie at the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in 2011.

Best Poem:
Paul Zarzyski’s “Cordwood.”

Western Musicians to Keep an Eye On:
Wylie Gustafson; Tim Hus; Marshall Ford Swing Band.

Best Writer:
Amy Hale Auker (the poet released her essay collection, Rightful Place, in 2011).