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Three Wyoming natives will return to the state to discuss a new play set to take place next month at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts (DCPA).

鈥淪taging the Non-Traditional American West: In Conversation with Nina McConigley, Matthew Spangler and Leean Kim Torske鈥� will be Monday, Feb. 5, at the University of Wyoming. The discussion -- free and open to the public -- will be at 4 p.m. in Room 506 of Coe Library. Light refreshments will be provided.

Spangler, Torske and McConigley adapted two short stories from McConigley鈥檚 award-winning 鈥淐owboys and East Indians鈥� for the stage. The stories follow the Sen family grappling with expectations and culture collisions moving from India to Wyoming. The staged reading will be at the at DCPA Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 24-25.

鈥淲e are excited to welcome three Wyomingites who are telling unexpected Wyoming stories out in the wider world,鈥� says Peter Parolin, dean of UW鈥檚 Honors College. 鈥淭he stories in 鈥楥owboys and East Indians鈥� reveal the complexity of Wyoming鈥檚 people in ways that expand the stories we tell about the West.鈥�

McConigley was born in Singapore and raised in Wyoming. Her short story collection, 鈥淐owboys and East Indians,鈥� won the PEN Open Book Award and a High Plains Book Award. In 2022, she received a National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship. She is a UW alumna and former faculty member. She currently teaches at Colorado State University.

Spangler, from Casper, is a playwright and director. He adapted 鈥淭he Kite Runner鈥� by Khaled Hosseini as well as Christy Lefteri鈥檚 novel 鈥淭he Beekeeper of Aleppo,鈥� co-written with Nesrin Alrefaai. He is a performance studies professor at San Jose State University and a writer-in-residence at the Hinterland Festival in Ireland.

Torske, DCPA Theatre Company鈥檚 Literary Programs director, previously held roles as literary manager and casting associate at Northlight Theatre; director of the Russ Tutterow Fellowship at Chicago Dramatists; and contributed to Steppenwolf Theatre Company. Notably, her play 鈥淎nd the Wind Howls鈥� was recently commissioned and produced by Relative Theatrics, with support from the Wyoming Arts Council.

Torske, Spangler and McConigley also will visit with honors students during a luncheon to further discuss the staged reading.

The Honors College and UW Libraries sponsor the events.

For more information, call Mandie Reish at (307) 766-6796 or email areish@uwyo.edu.