There are a number of Austin poets who have the gift of performance, and some who have made it into highbrow literary journals, but it's difficult for one poet to succeed in both areas. Blue Plate Poet Marlys West, who delivers immaculately crafted, wide-ranging poetry with a honey-stung voice, is the complete package. During her first year as a Michener Fellow in UT's Texas Center for Writers, she's developed from remarkable to phenomenal. The next inevitable level would have to be national.
