UPDATES!

Remember, there is no reading this month (May) and we will reunite in June. Specifically, June 10th, at 7:30pm in the main building of the Business of Arts Center at 513 Manitou Avenue. A big thank you to Jana at the BAC for working with me on landing such an artistically inspiring venue. We will be hosting events at the BAC from now on! We will have books for sale, refreshments, and a genuinely good time for all.

Our featured writer in June will be Juliana Aragon Fatula, author of Crazy Chicana in Catholic City, and I'm really looking forward to it-- Juliana is a fantastic poet who was recently accepted to take part in the Macondo Writer's Workshop in San Antonio this July.

The best way to stay informed about the Colorado Springs Writers Reading Series (and share this information with others) is to check this blog every now and then, or join the email mailing list. (No more than two emails a month-- I promise!) We are no longer going to be sticking to a third-Friday-of-the-month schedule; instead, we'll most likely be hosting an event every second Friday of the month. I will let you know when this is confirmed for future readings. Until then, keep your ears open!

Also, and I just have to put this out there, I'm teaching an English 227: Poetry Writing course this summer through Pikes Peak Community College, and I wanted to let all those who might be interested know that they should enroll! The class will be held on Mondays and Wednesdays at the Centennial campus, from 1-3:15pm. If you know of any students or potential poets who might be interested in studying feminist, political, surreal, and formal poetry with me for ten weeks, let them know. The class will be part workshop format.

Thank you so much to those of you who have attended CSWRS events over the past year. Your presence forms the literary stamina of the series, and I'm grateful to have seen you there!

Abby

CSWRS Coordinator

APRIL REVIEW

It's hard to believe that, one year ago, this reading series hosted its first event in downtown Colorado Springs. Deidre Schoolcraft, the first featured author, read a selection of her fiction, and the Open Mic list revealed an array of creative literary tastes. Afterward, the audience mingled (shoeless, in the yoga studio we started out in) and helped put away chairs, laughing and smiling about the stories and poems they'd spent the evening listening to.

It was the first time I felt truly welcome in a new town, and it was entirely because of the connection between writing and community-- what it brings out in people, what it allows them to let go of. I am so thankful for the opportunity I've had to host this series for you, and if I could, if berries were in season and I didn't have a stack of papers to grade, I would make each of you a jar of homemade jam. I'm that grateful!

This month, Iver Arnegard, our featured author and instructor from CSU-Pueblo, read a selection from his poetry collection, Welcome to Deadhorse, as well as a powerful piece from Levant, his current work-in-progress highlighting his experience as an instructor at the American University of Beirut. (Those of you interested in purchasing a copy of Welcome to Deadhorse: please contact Iver directly at iverarnegard@yahoo.com.) The audience was rapt. His words had us coiled around his finger, even when he stopped a moment to say, "I'm not purposefully trying to depress you." His writing, infused with humility and imagery capable of transporting us overseas, left me marveling at the role of writing in human survival. Without it, we would surely be lost, unable to connect to one another, silent.

I'd like to thank Christopher Gilbert, too, for photographing the event. Here's a wonderful shot of Iver with the audience:

Thank you, also, to the many wonderful Open Mic readers who have signed up to read their work over the past year. I hope you all continue to make this series part of your regular writing routine.

That reminds me, I need to thank Natalie Johnson, owner of Black Cat Books, who has graciously opened her doors to this series (as well as several other regular creative arts functions). As I announced last week, Black Cat is changing shape (combining store space with Safron) and will no longer be able to host us, but we are in the works with the Business of Arts Center, and I will announce the new location as soon as it's settled.

Stay tuned to this blog for updates. And remember, I'm taking the month of May off to travel, and we will resume our regularly scheduled readings in June!

Thanks to all of you!

Abby

CSWRS Coordinator

MARCH REVIEW

I have been remiss these past couple weeks, and this review of March's reading is coming to you late! For those of you who weren't at this month's reading, remember that next month (April) is National Poetry Month. Iver Arnegard will be our guest author, and his reading will also mark the one-year birthday of the Colorado Springs Writers Reading Series! Hurray!

I wish I could reach the photographer from The Independent who was clicking away on her beautiful camera at the reading for Janele Johnson on the 18th. (Are you out there, photographer?) I only have one picture to share from Janele's reading, but it's probably nowhere near as crisp as the ones a professional could take. Still, I have to post this one. Janele's poetry truly lit up the room, warmed our faces into smiles-- something we all know great literature is capable of, even when the message or metaphor aren't necessarily cheerful! Janele's narratives had this lyrical intimacy I really connected with, and so did the audience. So, thanks, Janele!

Remember, Juliana Aragon Fatula is still going to be reading as a featured author, but her appearance has yet to be rescheduled. Stay tuned for that!

Here's another update: I recently received an email from www.poets.org, from The Academy of American Poets, and it made a good point: it costs money to keep poetry and poetry education circulating in our towns and cities! For National Poetry Month, poets.org is asking for donations of any size, and I thought I might put a "tip jar" out on the book table in April. (Not sure if any others out there subscribe to poets.org's Poem-A-Day series, but I do, and it's fantastic-- I find out about new writers via that service and I rediscover the oldie/goodies through it as well.) Anyway, if you can drop a dollar in the jar in April, great! If not, don't worry about it. I just thought it might be nice to donate something to the site, considering how much I've enjoyed their resources lately (and I've watched my students enjoy it too). I'll just donate 100% of whatever falls into the jar that night!

Also, remember that I'm taking the month of May off for travel, and we'll be seeing each other after April's reading in June!

Have a great week, everyone.

Abby

CSWRS Coordinator

FEBRUARY REVIEW

As we draw closer to the end of February, I consider how the reading series has become a regular reminder of community in Colorado Springs-- among writers, readers, and lovers of literature. This series will hit its one year anniversary in April; since the first reading, I have never left one event without feeling recharged, refreshed, and thrilled to see the energy within local writers.

Juan Morales gave us another welcome jumpstart last Friday when he read from his collection of poetry, Friday and the Year that Followed. His book sold out after the reading (don't worry, I'll have a couple more copies for sale at the March event), and his poems confirmed what has been said of his writing style before: that it dwells simultaneously in myth, magic, the violence of war and the love of family. The audience was captivated.

(Juan Morales + the front rows of Friday's audience)

This wasn't the only great part of Juan's reading; we also had a stellar Open Mic line-up, with new and regular readers, including local student writers. Here are some new blog/website addresses to add to your list of bookmarked sites:

Julianza, Inkling: www.droppinglikerubies.com

Dan Gardner: esldatingdiaries.blogspot.com

(both of these authors will have work for sale on the book table)

Remember that our events are always held on the third Friday of the month, and our next reading will be March 18th, 7:30pm, at Black Cat Books. Bring a friend. Spread the word. Our featured reader will be Juliana Aragon Fatula, author of Crazy Chicana in Catholic City, a collection of poems published by Ghost Road in 2009.

See you then!

...

Abby

CSWRS Coordinator

FEBRUARY PREVIEW

This Friday, February 18th, poet Juan Morales from CSU-Pueblo will be our featured reader at Black Cat Books in Manitou Springs. Here's an excerpt from Juan's website, just to give you some info about his background:

Juan J. Morales was born in the U.S. to an Ecuadorian mother and a Puerto Rican father. He grew up hearing family stories that inspired much of the poems in Friday and the Year that Followed, his first collection of poetry, which was chosen by Vern Rutsala for the 2005 Rhea and Seymour Gorsline Poetry Competition and published by Bedbug Press. Juan received his MFA from the University of New Mexico in 2005. His poetry has also appeared inAcentos Review, Blue Mesa Review, Borderlands: Texas Poetry Review, Copper Nickel, Many Mountains Moving, Palabra (forthcoming), Poet Lore, War, Literature, & the Arts, and other journals. He is the Director of Creative Writing as an Assistant Professor at Colorado State University-Pueblo, where he curates the Southern Colorado Reading Series and the student literary magazine Tempered Steel, formerly The Hungry Eye. Currently, Juan is working on his second collection of poems.

I hope to see, as usual, a vibrant crowd of writers and readers. Remember, the Open Mic session gets started first thing, and there's only room for ten readers! Get there a little early if you have a prepared poem or excerpt to read, and I'll see you then!

...

Abby E. Murray

CSWRS Coordinator

JANUARY REVIEW

Well, it's taken me almost a week, but I'm finally getting around to telling everyone how delightful last Friday's reading with Lynn Wagner was. Not only did Lynn make us laugh with her take on an ex-lover coming back as a dog, she opened up several of her poems from the book No Blues This Raucous Song. (I'm still partial to "Neruda", which I think embodies some of Lynn's richest language. Find it on her website here.)

(a shot of Lynn and I with each other's books)

Before Lynn's reading, we had a full sign up of Open Mic readers, each filling up the 3-5 minute slots with a dazzling array of stories and poems.

(a shot of Janele Johnson, instructor at Pikes Peak Community College,

reading poetry during the Open Mic session.)

There were some blog addresses left on the update sheet, and I'm including their addresses below. (One is Tom Preble's website; the other is Marie Ostarello's. Both have extensive publication backgrounds, and I recommend checking out their stuff!) If you have a writing blog you'd like to get on this site, be sure to leave the address at the next CSWRS event.

Tom Preble: www.tompreble.com

Marie Ostarello: www.ostarello.com

Remember, next month's featured reader is Juan Morales, the head of CSU-Pueblo's Creative Writing program. He'll be reading on Friday evening, February 18th, at 7:30pm in the downstairs area of Black Cat Books in Manitou. If you'd like to participate in the Open Mic beforehand, be sure to get there a little early to sign up-- ten readers maximum-- and have your work timed to no more than five minutes, tops.

Thank you all for a fantastic evening!

Abby

CSWRS Coordinator

JANUARY PREVIEW

Join us on Friday, January 21st (7:30pm) at Black Cat Books in Manitou Springs for a reading with Lynn Wagner, author of the chapbook No Blues This Raucous Song. Lynn will be traveling from Denver to feature her work at this month's event, and I can't wait to hear it!

Remember that each event kicks off with an Open Mic session, and some tips for Open Mic presentation have been posted on this blog! If you'll be attending for the first time this month and aren't sure about reading yet, pick up one of the write-ups from the book table and take a look at what an Open Mic entails.

See everyone on the 18th!

Abby

CSWRS Coordinator

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