Las Cruces author inducted into prestigious Texas Institute of Letters

By Mike Cook

Las Cruces Newsletter

Las Cruces author and UTEP Professor Emeritus Shelley Armitage, Ph.D., is one of 15 distinguished writers who have been inducted into the Texas Institute of Letters (TIL), which was founded in 1936 to celebrate literature and literary achievement in Texas, TIL said in a press release.

“TIL’s membership consists of the state’s most respected writers,” TIL said, and includes recipients of major national and international awards and prizes.

Armitage, who moved to Las Cruces in 2005, is the former Roderick professor at UTEP. She holds several Fulbright Chairs in American Literature and has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Rockefeller Foundation.

Armitage has published over 50 peer-reviewed articles on photographic criticism, the arts, popular culture, multicultural literature, and gender studies, as well as eight award-winning books. His most recent book is “Walking the Llano”, a memoir.

In Las Cruces, Armitage manages the family farm and its native grasslands.

Since retiring from teaching, she has volunteered for Site Watch, Tree Stewards, the Audubon Society, and immigration projects.

“I love the space here, the availability of public land and the diversity of landscapes,” Armitage said. “There’s something about the desert and the arroyos that reminds me of the Canadian River Valley in northwest Texas where I grew up. The diverse community also drew me here. As a result, I wanted to write something about the Rio Grande and/or the Rio Grande Valley and published an essay on the river. And now these places inspire my poetry. I hike a lot and walk near my home here every day. There is always something amazing to see.

Armitage is currently working on a collection of poems tentatively titled “A Habit of Landscape”.

His induction into TIL will take place at the TIL Annual Meeting, scheduled for April 22-23 in El Paso.

Armitage’s advice to young writers: “Trust your inner self to write about the things you love,” she said. “And keep writing on that kitchen table. There is inspiration there. I wrote part of ‘Walking the Llano’ in a garage on Walnut Street here in Las Cruces because I didn’t have a study. It worked well and yes the “desk” was an old formica kitchen table from my great aunt and uncle’s house.

Visit shelleyarmitage.com.

Lola R. McClure