Yvonne Hollenbeck

Yvonne Hollenbeck is from Clearfield, South Dakota, where she and her husband, Glen, own and operate a working cattle and quarter horse ranch. Her poetry is a reflection of everyday experiences gained from being a rancher's wife, although an occasional event or memory may also stir her creativity .

Her poetry, mostly humorous in nature, is based upon her everyday experiences; however, she often writes about the not-so-humorous situations her mother and grandmothers experienced in their rural settings. Yvonne is the daughter of a National Champion Old Time Fiddler, Harry Hanson of Gordon, Nebraska, and for a number of years was a professional rodeo organist (where she met her rodeo cowboy and pickup- man husband); she is an award winning quilter; and is fast becoming one of the most published cowgirl poets in the West.

Yvonne performs at many public functions throughout the upper Midwest, and has recently been featured at the Colorado Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Arvada, as well as the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, Nevada. Yvonne has made four recordings of her poetry; the most recent one with friends Elizabeth Ebert, Jess Howard and Rod Nelson; and has published two books. Her book, "Where Prairie Flowers Bloom" was picked as the 2003 Will Rogers Medallion Award winner for excellence in Cowboy Poetry by the Academy of Western Artists, and her CD, "My Home On The Range" was the winner of the 2003 Western CD/Album of the Year. Just this past July, Yvonne was the first poet to win both divisions {humorous and serious) at the Worlds Only Cowboy Poetry Rodeo held in conjunction with the Western Legends Roundup at Kanab, Utah