RECIPIENT

Joel Nelson has spent decades working on some of the most respected cow outfits in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and Hawaii, specializing in breaking colts. Nelson’s ability to take the raw materials of ranch life and express them in poetry have made him a regular performer at the annual Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, Nev., and resulted in his being named a National Heritage Fellow by the National Endowment for the Arts in 2009. His Breaker in the Pen album of cowboy verse is the only cowboy poetry ever nominated for a Grammy Award.