Bearlodge Header

Updates:

April 2010:
National Poetry Month!

Go to Calendar »

Patricia Frolander Bio                                                          

I try to balance family, ranching, and writing and have a passion for each of them. My husband, Robert, and I own his family ranch in the Black Hills of Wyoming. Ties to land and livestock have provided a wonderful variety of subjects to journal and pen. Our family includes three children, seven grandchildren, two great-grandchildren, all of whom live close to the ranch. Managing family or ranching is like trying to rope the wind. In Wyoming, the wind is either bringing a storm or ushering in sunshine. I love the changes, although as I age, moderate weather is appreciated.

 

My hobbies include reading, writing, travel, and genealogy.

 

 

 

Publication Credits

 

PUBLICATIONS:

Grassland GenealogyGrassland Genealogy

Finishing Line Press
Paperback Chapbook
27 pages
price- $14
ISBN- 978-159924-471-6

"The poetry in Grassland Genealogy draws heavily and effectively on Patricia Frolander’s authentic knowledge of ranch life. But these moving poems about family ranching in Wyoming also develop a reader’s appreciation for her understanding of the subtle strands of heart and mind that tie humans and animals to each other and the grasslands they share."

                                                                        Robert Roripaugh
                                                                        Wyoming Poet Laureate 1995-2002

 

Poetry Appearing in Anthologies:

Wyoming Fence Lines, An Anthology of Prose and Poetry, Wyoming Humanities Council, 2007

In the Shadow of the Bear Lodge, Editor, Bearlodge Writers, Many Kites
Press, 2006

Crazy Woman Creek: Women Rewrite the American West, Houghton Mifflin, 2004

Hard Ground IV: Writing the Rockies, Pronghorn Press, 2003

Cowgirl Poetry: One Hundred Years of Ridin' and Rhymin', Gibbs Smith, 2001

Woven on the Wind: Women Write about Friendship in the Sagebrush West, Houghton Mifflin, 2001

Trail Dust: A Limited Edition Collection of Western Poetry, WY Agricultural Leadership Council, 2000

 

Awards and Recognition:

2009 winner of the 17th Annual National Senior Poets Laureate Competition, sponsored by Amy Kitchner's Angels Without Wings Foundation.
WyoPoets, Wyoming Paintbrush, 2007
Wyoming Arts Council Fellowship Honorable Mention, 2006
WyoPoets National Contest: First Place and Honorable Mention, 2006
WYOPoets Chapbook, Wind Whispers Down Wyoming, 2005
WYOPoets National Contest, Honorable Mention, 2003
WYOPoets National Contest, Honorable Mention, 2002
WYOPoets Chapbook, Seasons of Wyoming, 2002
Featured Poet at the 2007 Alzada Cowboy Poetry, Music and Art Show  Guest Poet at the Matthews Opera House feature, Stars Shine, 2008

Literary Reviews, Magazines, Journal Publications, and Newspapers:
Owen Wister Review, University of Wyoming, 2007
Wyoming Rural Electric News Magazine: 1999, 1998, 1995, 1993, 1992
Farm Journal: 1993
Cow Country: 1995, 1992, 1991, 1990
Wyoming Livestock Roundup, Sundance Times, Moorcroft Leader, Billings Gazette

Excerpt of Writing

 

Who Would I Be if I Didn’t Have a Name?

Wisdom-edged woman in Levi’s,
lover of ponderosa, buffalo grass, and a cowboy.
Collector of rock and bone.
Companion of grandchildren, sagebrush
and a buckskin mare with velvet muzzle.
Driver of posts, stretcher of wire
on sweat-drenched, blue-sky days.
Seeker of deer in bur oak shade,
of hidden springs of earth-cooled water.
Reader of history, mystery, and love.
Poet-emerging.
Wide-hipped, opinionated,
callous-handed mother and friend.
My epitaph? The shadow of a prairie falcon
gliding over the prairie.


Water Song

Water trills light soprano
over murmuring alto sedge,
watercress, and mint.
Rustling leaves of Russian olive,
hawthorn, oak
complete the ensemble.

I sing with them,
a heart-deep melody
as sunshine dapples tender shoots.
Supple pine
bend and sway with blushing clouds.
Skimmers and dragonflies dance

while
I breathe my lover’s scent,
watch the gentle breeze tease
his light brown curls.
We compose our own music
as, softly, the grass grows.

 

 

 

Get to know Patricia

Some Favorite Books:

Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck
Cheyenne Autumn by Mari Sandoz
Graining the Mare; The Poetry of Ranch Women, edited by Tereasa Jordan
Delights and Shadows by Ted Kooser

 

Favorite Children's Book: Where the Red Fern Grows

 

Favorite Color: Peach


Favorite Song: Amazing Grace


Favorite Place: Home


Dream Trips: Travel Ireland, Cruise Alaska, Rail Southern Canada

 

Quote Me: Laughter is always a gift worth giving.

Favorite Quote:

"If you wish to travel far and fast, travel light. Take off all of your envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness, and fear."  Cesare Pavese

 

Email Patricia