Lannan Foundation

Richard Shelton, Writer and Poet - Marfa, Summer 2000

Born in Boise, Idaho in 1933, Richard Shelton has published three volumes of poetry, The Tattooed Desert, All The Dirty Words, and Desert Water, as well as a memoir, Going Back To Bisbee.

Mr. Shelton teaches at the University of Arizona at Tucson and directs a creative writing workshop at the Santa Rita Unit of the Arizona State Prison. Mr. Shelton, who was particularly interested in the topography, flora, fauna, and history of the Davis and Chisos Mountains in Texas, worked on his poetry during his residency.