Published April 11, 2024
By Lance Ziesch DC3 Assistant Director of Marketing and Community Relations
The Dodge City Community College (DC3) Library is celebrating Earth Month with a pair of Read and CONQuer committee events scheduled during the month of April.
Up first, at 3 p.m., on April 14, is a presentation by Kansas Poet Laureate, Traci Brimhall, titled “Why Can’t the Heart Stop Asking?”
Brimhall, a professor at Kansas State University, directs the college’s creative writing program and holds the Donnelly Faculty Award in English.
“April is National Poetry Month, and Traci Brimhall’s poems have a connection to nature,” Paulina Duenas, DC3 Title V Outreach and Retention Assistant, said. “Her presentation will use poetry to create surprises, explore our curiosities, and find new questions.”
Duenas, who is the Read and CONQuer leader for April, said the upcoming presentation encourages people to observe and pay attention to the world around them. During the program, attendees will be asked to reflect on a series of questions. Those questions include: What images do we see each day that excite our minds? What sounds do we hear that awaken our hearts? And what poems ask for our attention and reward us with discovery?
And then, at 3 p.m., on April 30, the Library will host a discussion about the April book selection, “Braiding Sweetgrass,” by Robin Wall Kimmerer, which is a book that emphasizes the importance of developing a reciprocal relationship with the natural world based on respect, gratitude, and stewardship.
“I chose the book ‘Braiding Sweetgrass’ for this month as it is Earth Month, and the book beautifully honors the Earth by blending indigenous wisdom with scientific knowledge,” Duenas said. “Kimmerer beautifully weaves together her personal experiences as a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation with her scientific background as a botanist.”
Duenas said that “Braiding Sweetgrass” offers readers a unique perspective and inspires them to reexamine their places in the world, appreciate the beauty and wisdom of the natural world, and work toward restoring balance and harmony in the ecosystems that sustain life on our planet.
“Readers can expect to be deeply impacted by the book’s exploration of our interconnectedness with nature, the ethical relationship we should cultivate with the Earth, the value of traditional ecological knowledge, the spiritual connection to nature, and the call to action to become better stewards of the environment,” she said.