Like the lifestyle it describes, cowboy poetry seems to be a dying art. The Western Folklife Center, based in Elko, aims to reverse that trend. In conjunction with January's Cowboy Poetry Gathering, the center is sponsoring a Cowboy Poetry Competition for writers under 40. Younger writers will also need to upload their poem to YouTube so its performance can also be judged - and recitation is a key element of all cowboy poetry. We talk with Poet John Dofflemyer about his poetry and about the competition.
John Dofflemyer, rancher and poet
Darcy Minter, Communications Director, Western Folklife Center