by David Romtvedt (Author)

For a sixteen-year-old immigrant from a Basque village, northern Wyoming, on a cold February day in 1902, seemed as distant and barren as the moon. Zelestina Urza, who had left her impoverished family, had no idea what lay ahead of her. How would she make a life out of what seemed like less than nothing? In his new novel, David Romtvedt, the Pushcart Prize-award winning author of A Flower Whose Name I Do Not Know, and Wyoming poet laureate, draws the reader into a complex portrait of the immigrant experience in the American West. Zelestina's life story is interwoven with that of her close friend Yellow Bird Daughter-a young Cheyenne Arapaho woman-a lifelong relationship that overcomes obstacles and spans cultural differences. Romtvedt's sharply humorous style, full of pop and literary references, blends the historical and magical into an engaging conversation with the reader. Zelestina Urza is an engaging account of Basque immigration and a piercing look at the American West of the twentieth century, showing two women, one immigrant, one native, both outsiders from the traditional narrative of the Manifest Destiny.

Author Biography

David Romtvedt is an American
writer and poet. He was born in Portland, Oregon and raised in Arizona.
He got his BA from Reed College and his MFA from the University of Iowa.
From 2003 to 2011, Romtvedt was the poet laureate of Wyoming and has
received several honors for his poetry; including the Wyoming Governor's
Arts Award, fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and
the Wyoming Arts Council. He also is a musician and occasionally tours
with his daughter.

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