Hello from
New York, CSWRS supporters!
I’ve missed
this reading series since I moved to upstate New York to begin my PhD. It's been a crazy, busy, productive year out east, and many times I've found my imagination back in Colorado. I’m sad to know this is a goodbye
note from the reading series we all enjoyed so much in the Colorado Springs
community. I want to take a moment to thank you all for the contributions you
made as writers and citizens.
A shot from the first reading, April 16, 2010.
This series
began in 2010. Because my husband’s career in the army meant we relocated every
6-18 months, I arrived in Colorado already familiar with feeling as if I were
the one person within city limits who didn’t have that hometown feeling, of
knowing where I was and who was there with me. This reading series was my
hometown while I lived in Colorado. It couldn’t have been done without the
support of many fellow writers and lovers of local art and artists: Jana Rush, the then-event-coordinator
at the BAC who did everything she could to keep CSWRS at the BAC affordably and
comfortably; her husband and fish-whisperer Ed Engle, who purchased the rent for our first three months at the
BAC as a donation; Natalie Johnson,
owner of the once Black Cat Books and current BAC director; Mandy Solomon, colleague at PPCC who
continued the series when I left Colorado; Patti
Mirehouse, once-composition-student turned trusted friend, who hand-modeled
books for sale like no one else; my husband, Tom Angstadt, who helped whenever he was stateside and supported me
over the phone when he wasn’t; all the open
mic contributors, some of whose work became a staple we cherished and some
who visited and shared their work only once or twice; every student who participated in any reading; and, to be honest,
the staff at Amanda’s Fonda, who fed me after almost every reading, even though
I typically got there ten minutes before closing.
From 2010 through 2012, I left every
CSWRS event feeling thrilled by the happiness created by a community of people
who cared for each other. There were stories I grew to love like relatives and
voices I didn’t want to move away from. The writers who traveled to Colorado
from as far away as New York and as close as Old Colorado City shocked and
comforted me with their enthusiasm and passion.
And it wasn’t
just people who made such an impression on me during my time with the CSWRS.
Black Cat Books changed shape while we were there, then relocated, and recently
closed its doors; the BAC endured vandalism (followed by an incredible
outpouring of community support for repairs). The entire town shook in the hot
shadow of a terrifying wildfire in the summer of 2012, and has recently stood
up to powerful flooding. This community is one of resilience, strong enough to rewrite itself through obstacles.
Plus, and
especially, I am grateful for every single guest author, who offered
their readings as a donation to the series and the community. Please stay in touch and know how much we all enjoyed your work:
Deidre
Schoolcraft
Laura Feldman
Janele
Johnson
Iver Arnegard
Michael
Ferguson
M.R. Hyde
Contributors
to Rearrange
Ye Olde Book Table
Thank you,
all of you, from the bottom of my heart, which is always searching for home. I
appreciate you, I am glad for you. By participating in CSWRS, you showed your commitment
to local writers, to their voices, to the art of literature and the strength of
compassion in a community. Please continue to do this in every city you live
in. Support one another, write for each other. Keep in touch, submit your work, keep up the good fight! Spread the word about ways to get your voices heard in Colorado Springs and around the world. (The literary journal I work for now, Harpur Palate, is open for submissions, for example, and we'd love to read your work.)
Take good
care,
Abby E. Murray
Former CSWRS
Coordinator
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