O. Alan Weltzien Writers Series Hosts Authors Sally Cobau and Ben Kuntz

The University of Montana Western English Department is pleased to announce an upcoming reading and conversation with local authors Sally Cobau and Ben Kuntz on Thursday, March 26, from 7:00–8:30 p.m. in the Bulldog Lounge as part of the O. Alan Weltzien Writers Series.

The O. Alan Weltzien Writers Series is a literary event that brings authors, poets, and writers to campus for readings and discussions. Named after Weltzien, a longtime professor and writer, the series highlights both emerging and established authors, often with a focus on literature connected to Montana and the West.

This event will feature local authors Sally Cobau and Ben Kuntz.

Sally Cobau is a writer, teacher, mom, yoga practitioner, and hiker from Dillon, Montana. Originally from Ohio, she fell in love with Montana when she came here for graduate school in Missoula. After receiving her MFA in poetry from the University of Montana, her work has been published in Rattle, Hole in the Head Review, Oyster River Pages, The Sun, Room Magazine, Writing in a Woman’s Voice, Ekphrastic Review, Poems Across the Big Sky II, and other journals and anthologies. In December of 2025, her debut poetry collection, Animals in the House: 18 Sonnets, was published. When she’s not writing, she explores the mountains near her home. The ranchers, river guides, professors, and dog lovers in this little town form the heart of her work.

Ben Kuntz moved back to western Montana a few years ago after nearly twenty years in Bethel, Alaska, where he was an associate professor of English at the Kuskokwim branch of the University of Alaska Fairbanks. He holds a BA and MA from the University of Montana and an MFA from Eastern Washington University. In Dillon, he teaches occasionally at UM Western and works at the Patagonia Outlet. His stories and essays have appeared in small publications including Cirque and The Inlander.

This event is free and open to the public, and coffee and snacks will be available for purchase at The Cup. For more information, please contact Dr. Wright at laura.wright@umwestern.edu.