State Artist Karla Morton

Description

Karla K. Morton, the 2010 Texas Poet Laureate, is an award-winning poet and sought-after keynote speaker. She has been described as ‘one of the more adventurous voices in American poetry,’ but don’t let the title ‘poet’ fool you. Karla is an outgoing, warm and energetic ball of fire who loves to promote poetry and the arts. She has spoken, offered workshops, and performed her poetry at venues and events across the country. From large corporate conferences to national parks, major fundraising events, small classrooms and international literary festivals, Karla is comfortable in front of any crowd. Her poetry spans many subjects and forms and evokes laughter, tears, and inspiration. With 16 published books of poetry (as of 2024) and widely published in literary journals, Karla has won numerous awards, including a Western Heritage Wrangler Award, Betsy Colquitt Award, Spur Award, Indie Book Award, Eric Hoffer Award and more. She is a nominee for the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame and has been featured on Good Morning Texas, NPR, PBS, ABC News, CBS News and in countless newspapers, blogs and magazines. A native Texan, two-time cancer survivor, Mother Jones impersonator, avid photographer, and a graduate of Texas A&M University, Karla has explored, photographed and written about all 63 U.S. National Parks (culminating in the award-winning book, The National Parks: A Century of Grace). She currently divides her time between Fort Worth, Texas and Raton, New Mexico.