Author to Discuss Meteorite Hunting Oct. 19, 2007 -- Award-winning writer Christopher Cokinos will talk about his experiences as a meteorite hunter in the polar regions when he visits the University of Wyoming Monday, Oct. 22. His free lecture, "The Fallen Sky: A Private History of Shooting Stars," will take place at 7 p.m. in the UW Art Museum. Cokinos will answer questions and sign books during the following reception. Cokinos is an associate professor of English and an adjunct professor of environment and society at Utah State University. He received both a Whiting Award and the Glasgow Prize for an Emerging Writer, and wrote "Hope Is the Thing with Feathers: A Personal Chronicle of Vanished Birds." In 2003 Cokinos was awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) fellowship to join the Antarctic Search for Meteorites Expedition. While collecting meteorites with scientists, he spent five weeks on the Antarctic polar plateau, living in an unheated tent in 24-hour daylight-an experience he found "beautiful and grueling." In the end, the expedition found more than 1,000 meteorites, including one from Mars. Cokinos visit is held in conjunction with the Art Museum's "Antarctica" exhibition which celebrates the anniversary of the NSF's Antarctic Artists and Writers Program, and the International Polar Year, the 100th anniversary of the discovery and exploration of the Polar Regions. The exhibit runs through Dec. 22. The lecture is co-sponsored by the Art Museum and by the Haub School and Ruckelshaus Institute of Environment and Natural Resources. It is supported by a grant from the Wyoming Arts Council, funded by the Wyoming State Legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts. For more information call the Art Museum at (307) 766-6620 or visit www.uwyo.edu/artmuseum. Posted on Friday, October 19, 2007