Friends of the University Libraries

Silver Pen Award Recipient 1997
Gary Short

Gary Short bought his first book of poetry while teaching history and coaching basketball in Wells, Nevada in the 1970s, and wrote his first poem at age 30 while studying with local poet Tom Meschery at Virginia City High School in 1984. Short now lives the "artist's life" in Virginia City. He has received numerous awards including the 1993-95 Wallace Stegner Fellowship at Stanford University. In 1996, Short was awarded the Western States Book Award for his poems, Flying Over Sonny Liston.