Gillian Cummings is the Author of The Owl was a Baker’s Daughter, winner of the 2018 Colorado Prize for Poetry selected by John Yau, forthcoming this November from The Center for Literary Publishing at Colorado State University. I reached out to Gillian Cummings directly regarding her success, and she enthusiastically consented to an interview. About The Owl Was a Baker’s Daughter: The title The Owl was a Baker’s Daughter originates from a line spoken by Shakespeare’s Ophelia in Hamlet whose grief and guilt at which point have overwhelmed her into a sort of psychosis. The Owl was a... Read More

Ghost Of is Diana Khoi Nguyen’s remarkable award-winning poetry debut; this collection is an extensive, jarring rumination on the loss by suicide of her younger brother — the ghost and principal muse of the work. Nguyen’s voice is augmented by family photographs which combine with her poetry to produce innovative multi-media forms; these give a deconstructed dimensionality to her tender lamentations. The result is nothing short of ingenious and sincere vulnerability, a portal into deeply personal histories. Diana Khoi Nguyen’s work is assuredly appreciating a much larger audience thanks... Read More

Diana Khoi Nguyen’s debut collection Ghost Of won the Omnidawn Open Book Contest and has been nominated for the National Book Award in poetry.  Diana and I met during a poetry workshop she taught at Lighthouse in Denver. After eight cozy, creative weeks in the Lighthouse parlor room were through, my view of poetics and aesthetics had shifted drastically. When Diana told us her work was due to release the following month, I pre-ordered the collection without a blink’s hesitation.  Ghost Of  is Diana Khoi Nguyen’s remarkable debut; this work is an extensive, jarring rumination on the... Read More

Poetry and cinema collide at Ham on Rye, a monthly event series. I had the pleasure of interviewing Travis to get the inside scoop.    Ham on Rye normally occurs on the first Wednesday of each month (May 3rd) at 7:00 PM. Film screening at 8:30. The address is BarFly 4255 W. Colfax Denver, CO 80204 What should one expect to experience at Ham on Rye? Each reading begins with a song to set the mood, selected by the featured writer for the evening. I give a brief talk about poetry, the world, the intersection of poetry and film, or something relevant to the reader. I also have a 10,000 foot scroll... Read More

The Colorado Book Awards celebrate the immense literary successes of local authors. Madelyn is a Colorado Book Award nominee in the Poetry category. She will read alongside fellow nominees on April 27th at Denver’s BookBar beginning at 7PM.  Celebrate National Poetry month while showing support for local writers! Lucky for us, Madelyn Garner was emphatic to share a little bit about Hum of Our Blood, her debut poetry collection that was over twenty years in the making. About Madelyn Garner: Master teacher, editor, and poet, Madelyn Garner has degrees from the University of Denver and Mills College.... Read More

The Colorado Book Awards celebrate the immense literary successes of local authors. David Hicks is a Colorado Book Award – Fiction nominee. He will read alongside fellow nominees in various categories on April 27th at Denver’s BookBar beginning at 7PM. Show your support for these nominated Colorado greats. Lucky for us, David Hicks was happily willing to let me pick his brain a bit. About David Hicks: David is the author of the debut novel, White Plains, which was published by Conundrum Press in 2017. Excerpts from the novel have been published as short stories in Glimmer Train, Colorado... Read More

March 21st is World Poetry Day! According to the United Nations, who established this fantastic, necessary holiday in 1996, the celebration of World Poetry Day intends to, ​encourage a return to the oral tradition of poetry recitals, to ​promote the teaching of poetry, to restore a dialogue between ​poetry and the other arts such as theatre, dance, music and ​painting, and to support small publishers and create an ​attractive image of poetry in the media, so that the art of poetry ​will no longer be considered an outdated form of art, but one ​which enables society as a whole to... Read More

The editor of History of Colorado, Volume 1 (1918), Wilbur Fiske Stone, leaves the reader with a final thought much more qualified than I to introduce this series of early Colorado poetry: “Literature is a tremendous force in our mountain commonwealth and should be encouraged. The writer renders a valuable service. […] The poet gives us intellectual intoxication and philosophy of life.  […] Literature is an aid to culture. It fosters in us the evolve of the good, the true, the beautiful.” (890) That being said, here are some poems to help cultivate that Coloradan sense of wonder... Read More

 A poet’s natural habitat looks something like this: sitting with a bent neck, cold coffee within reach, diving into oneself, backspacing with burrowed brow or crumbling papers to toss into the full wastepaper basket in the corner. It’s a process of passion, and an intimately solitary one at that. Too often poets’ efforts remain confined to the page; it might seem unnatural to share one’s poetry at all let alone aloud with strangers.  However, I’m here to advocate for Denver poetry activism. Here I’ll review the ample reasons & rewards to reading for an audience:         Stepping... Read More