The virtual Thursday Nights at the Longmont Museum series continues this week with “An Evening with Bobby LeFebre, Colorado Poet Laureate.”
The Denver-based poet is the youngest and first-ever person of color to be named the state poet laureate in the program’s 100-year history. The evening will include him reading from his work, as well as readings by Boulder’s Emily Marie Passos Duffy and local poets who have been invited to read.
An award-winning writer, performer and cultural worker, LeFebre describes his work as “fusing a non-traditional multi-hyphenated professional identity to imagine new realities, empower communities, advance arts and culture, and serve as an agent of provocation, transformation, equity and social change.”
He is is a two-time Grand Slam Champion, a National Poetry Slam Finalist, an Individual World Poetry Slam Finalist, and also the co-founder of the award-winning nonprofit organization, Cafe Cultura, “which was dedicated to utilizing poetry as a tool for youth literacy and educational and cultural development,” according to a post on LeFebre’s website.
In 2017, LeFebre was appointed by Denver Mayor Michael Hancock to serve a two-year term as co-chair of the Denver Commission on Cultural Affairs. Currently, he serves as a board member for the Clyfford Still Museum, an advisory council member for the Latino Cultural Arts Center, and an advisor for the newly created Denver Institute of Equity and Reconciliation. He also is a founding member of Interfest Denver.
LeFebre also recently wrote “Nothing Left” as inspiration for Colorado during the coronavirus pandemic.
Thursday’s event, which will begin with an open reading by local poets, starts at 7:30 p.m. and will be livestreamed on the Longmont Museum’s Facebook page and by Longmont Public Media and can be viewed Comcast channel 8/880.
Museum members can attend in person at the Stewart Auditorium, but audience size is limited to 45 and reservations are required. COVID safety guidelines will be in place, including seating in every other row to maintain social distance and guests being required to wear masks throughout the event. Reservations can be made online or by calling 303-651-8374.
