I’ve lived in four major cities beyond Denver during my life – Detroit, Tampa, Dallas and even London, England for a year. Guess you could say I’ve been around the block a time or two. And in my experience, one of the things I’ve found to be unique and special about Denver is the vibrancy of the writing community here. Over the past couple of years, therefore, I’ve toyed with the idea of how we might establish Denver as the Literary Capital of the West.
Whoa! Literary Capital? Can we truly think about this?
As creative writers, I know we can. Let’s play that brainstorming game, “What if?” and see what happens . . .
What if Denver were the literary capital of the West?
If that happened, wouldn’t we then see an influx in great and world renowned authors living and visiting our area? Jack Kerouac traveled here and wrote a significant portion of his “On the Road” based on life in Denver. Alan Ginsberg, also a leader in the Beat Generation of the ‘50s, established a school of Disembodied Poetics at the Naropa Institute in Boulder. We need more established authors to represent today’s writing superstars. People like Doris Kerns Goodwin might do an updated history of our wild west. Or Stephen King might come by to add to his “The Shining” with maybe a story or two about the haunting of Cheesman Park or the Denver Children’s Home. Or maybe with big name writers around, the level of our own local talent would continue to zoom ahead of the rest of the country. We have great authors at RMFW. Denver needs to support them and get the word out on them so they can sell more books, and make a living in this adventure.
And, what if our booksellers wanted to get involved?
I’m heading to the Mountains & Plains booksellers conference next week with some RMFW published authors where we’ll meet up to 250 booksellers interested in the books by us western-based authors. Okay, so Portland, Oregon has Powell’s Books, but the Tattered cover is adding steam to their engine with some new owners we’re all excited about. We have a solid community of great independent booksellers and plenty of Barnes and Nobles to excite the reading public. What if we set our relationship with this group and created new markets for our books to be sold at?
If we were better formed as a publishing force, could we also contemplate encouraging big publishers to come west, or maybe create big publishers from the small and start-up organizations that already exist here? Could we evolve the face of publishing by working together on goals and needs to grow and fulfill demand for our work?
What would happen if we had more writing groups?
RMFW is huge. Over 700 members work in our critique groups, come to our annual conference or visit through our monthly programs. But RMFW is only one writing group in Colorado. I have heard that there are more than 40 groups where writers constantly keep current and grow their writing skills and aspirations. Think Pikes Peak, Lighthouse Writers, Rocky Mountain Mystery Writers of America, Romance Writers, Sisters in Crime and many more. Perhaps the question isn’t what if we had more writing groups, but what if all the writing groups came together at one huge event?
What if we had a Denver Lit Book Festival every few years?
We might have books, authors, publishers, agents, professional story tellers, play writes, librarians, and more. Wow! Can you imagine that? We could have poetry slams, book readings, music and food—always good food. The blue bear at the convention center might become a great reading example if we hung a book inside the windows for him to read.
So What If we had more and better examples of readers?
Maybe we’d re-inspire the governor’s book club, give more support to Dom Testa’s “The Big Brain Club” or start our own programs for literacy in Colorado. Did you know that only 38% of eighth graders tested in Colorado are reading at a proficient level? We can do better. Maybe we writers and authors could team up with some of our terrific literacy programs and help make reading popular. It’s good for the kids, it expands our marketplace, and it helps people live better lives.
Can you envision all of this?
What thoughts can you come up with when you ask, “What if Denver were the literary capital of the West?”
I really like this idea. Jim Butcher recently moved to Evergreen. A large number of the writers I met at a retreat in Lincoln City, Oregon were from the area. I think we’ve got a good start on it.
I’m trying to think of how to “be the change” since ideas aren’t actions. While ideas generally inspire change, only personal acts can achieve it. What can *I* do in my own practice to promote this idea?
Personally, I probably need to be more active in the community. I’m privileged to be a full-time novelist. Sharing what I’ve learned and helping new writers up the ladder can help foster the collaborative spirit. I’m too far out of Denver to participate in short events – meet ups, social gatherings, etc – but close enough to participate in larger ones. I already participate in online activities – the RMFW IPAL group, the Colorado Gold group, this blog. There are probably other things I could contribute to if I thought about it.
I let my membership in Northern Colorado Writers lapse. Perhaps I need to revisit that decision. Unfortunately I’m almost as far from their regular meetings as I am from Denver’s. They didn’t have as broad an online presence as RMFW, but maybe I can help change that.
Thanks, Liesa. Some great food for thought.
Wow, Nathan! I like the way you think. I wasn’t even aware of the Colorado Gold group on-line. Very cool. Let’s stay in touch. Yes, ideas are cheap, but when we ignite passion and hope we can encourage action. Wishing you continued success on your writing career and hoping to connect over specific things PAL and I-PAL can do to get a movement going.
I’m in, and I have convention management experience.
Nice post. I’ll say this from a Nebraska perspective, the writing scene in the Denver area seems freakin’ awesome.