Glen Nelson is an American poet, librettist, publisher, writer, and a ghostwriter of several New York Times nonfiction bestsellers.
He is the founder of New York City's Mormon Artists Group and co-founder of the Center for Latter-day Saint Arts.
[2] He wrote the libretto for a one-act opera adaptation of Joyce's Dubliners entitled The Dead which was staged in 1993.
He collaborated with composer David Fletcher on the song cycle Joseph Smith's Letters from Prison, which was performed in 2001.
He researched nineteenth-century literature in order to make the play's dialogue more authentic, and used events from historical records for the opera's plot.
[8] In 2001, Nelson's daughter had been hospitalized with a brain tumor,[10] which Nelson said helped him identify with Joseph Smith's experience of worrying about his children's health and trying to publish a book; this inspired him to set the opera in the time Smith was trying to publish the Book of Mormon.
[12] Nelson also wrote the libretto for the chamber opera "The Captivity of Hannah Duston" with Lansing McLoskey composing; excerpts were aired in 2019.
[22] The first festival was held in 2017 and included, among other events, a keynote address from Terryl Givens[23] and a sing-along with Craig Jessop.
[21] Laura Hurtado curated an art show of 23 artworks from the LDS Church's permanent collection, including works by Jorge Cocco Santángelo, Annie Poon, and Brian Kershisnik.