By Martina Treviño/nw news editor

NW Campus kicks off National Poetry Month with a visit from the Texas Poet Laureate and storyteller.

Red Steagall has spent the last 30 years as an author, recording artist, songwriter and television/motion picture personality.

Sponsored by student activities, the NW English department and Sigma Kappa Delta English Society, Steagall’s visit will be Tuesday, April 3, in WSTU 1305. The presentation begins at 10:30 a.m. with a performance by the Strolling Texas Swing Band and Two-step Dancers. Steagall will speak from 11 a.m. to noon, followed by more music until 12:30 p.m.

Steagall has hosted the annual Red Steagall Cowboy Gathering in the Fort Worth Stockyards since 1991. This authentic Western event draws thousands of guests and features a ranch rodeo, chuck wagon cook-off, children’s poetry contest, Western swing dances, horsemanship clinics, cowboy music and poetry.

In April 1994, Steagall launched a one-hour syndicated radio show, Cowboy Corner, heard on 175 stations in 43 states. Cowboy Corner celebrates the lifestyle of the American West through the poetry, songs and stories of the cowboy. It features guest artists like Reba McEntire, Charlie Daniels and Don Edwards.

The Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame inducted Steagall in 2004 and presented him with the Spirit of Texas Award.

Steagall was named 2006 Poet Laureate of the State of Texas during ceremonies at the state Capitol. He is the first cowboy poet to be named the Poet Laureate of Texas.

His latest book, Cowboy Corner Conversation, is a collection of favorite interviews from his radio show. It includes personal stories from Western figures such as Roy Rogers, Rex Allen, McEntire, Richard Farnsworth, Ben Johnson, John Justin, Buster Welch and Wilford Brimley.