On a Benediction of Wind: An Evening of Poetry and Photography

Poet, Charles Finn and photographer Barbara Michelman, will present their collaborative project pairing poetry and photography of the American West. The result is a book perfect to give to yourself or others as a balm for the cold winter.  An inspiration for the spirit.  Both Finn and Michelman will be at Chapter One to present their work on December 6 at 6pm.  Books are available through Chapter One.  Michelman's photography will also be on display (and for sale) at Explore the Arts November 24-December 30th.

Presenter Bios

Charles Finn is the former editor of the literary and fine arts magazine High Desert Journal,
author of Wild Delicate Seconds: 29 Wildlife Encounter, and with photographer Barbara
Michelman, author of On a Benediction of Wind: Poems and Photographs from the American
West, winner of the 2022 Montana Book Award. He is co-editor of the poetry textbook, The Art
of Revising Poetry: 21 U.S. Poets on their Drafts, Craft, and Process as well as co-editor of the
forthcoming poetry anthology We Are All God’s Poems. A self-taught woodworker and wood
artist, he is the owner of A Room of One’s Own and FINNFURNITURE & ART, where he builds
custom micro-cabins, furniture, and wood sculptures using reclaimed lumber and materials. He
lives in Havre, MT, with his wife Joyce Mphande-Finn and their two cats, Tija and Rilke.

Photographer Barbara Michelman started in Hollywood and was one of the first women in film
lighting. Widely exhibited in public and private collections here and abroad, her recent series on
the aftermath of fires in the west, Fire on Every Mountain, was awarded Best of Photography  at
the Wild and Scenic Film Festival in California.  Her work is also in the  current global
exhibition  Extraction: Art on  the Edge of the Abyss.  On a Benediction of Wind, her black and
white photography book with writer Charles Finn, recently won the Montana Book Award. . She
lives in Missoula, Montana.