On Friday, June 18th, I'll present a lecture on The Sazerac and The Birth of the Cocktail as one half of this year's first Mixed Taste: Tag Team Lectures on Unrelated Topics. The lectures begin at 6:30pm at the Flower Garage opposite MCA Denver on Delgany Street just west of 15th. Tickets sell out quickly, so be sure to get yours soon.

On Wednesday, June 16th, at from 8 till 9:30pm, I'll be taking part in a salon discussion on the development of an individual aesthetic as part of Lighthouse Writers' 5th Annual LitFest.

Here's the description:

We all know that we develop our own particular barometer of great writing, both as readers and as writers, but how does that happen? How does a writer refine his or her own sense of what is beautiful and worthwhile in a world teeming with books? We'll talk to writers, including award-winning poet Jake Adam York, who have strong opinions on the topic, and who will help us chart a course through the development of their own literary taste. Contribute to the conversation or spend the evening building your reading list, thinking in a new way about the writing life, and raising a glass to the appreciation of the written word. Come early for a seat and to order food/drink.

The location of this discussion has not yet been set, but updates will be posted here (follow the link).

For more info, visit this page here: https://lighthousewriters.org/workshop/detail/id/332/

On Wednesday, June 16th, at from 2 till 4:30pm, I'll be teaching a workshop on documentary approaches to literary writing as part of Lighthouse Writers' 5th Annual LitFest.

Here's the workshop description:

Documentaries ain't just for filmmakers any more. We think of stories and poems as coming from ourselves, but what do we do when we feel called to respond to or write about something that doesn't involve us directly, something that catches us because we are humans, not because we're individuals? This seminar will explore some documentary approaches to writing -- using photographs, newspaper stories, legal documents, and other goodies, in the creation of dynamic poems, stories, and essays.

For more info, visit this page here: https://lighthousewriters.org/workshop/detail/id/332/

On Tuesday, June 15th, at from 2 till 4:30pm, I'll be teaching a workshop on writing meditative poems as part of Lighthouse Writers' 5th Annual LitFest.

Here's the workshop description:

This is a brief course in writing the longer meditation. Ever feel like 30 lines is not enough time or room to explore what you want to explore? Or that you want to try a longer poem? This seminar will discuss contemporary meditative poems and guide you through the creation of your own.

For more info, visit this page here: https://lighthousewriters.org/workshop/detail/id/332/

On Wednesday, June 9th, at from 5 till 7:30pm, I'll be teaching a workshop on writing prose poems (and killer paragraphs) as part of Lighthouse Writers' 5th Annual LitFest.

Here's the workshop description:

For poets and prose-writers alike, we'll build from some short prose-poem exercises toward larger paragraphs that can live independently or as major engines in longer works, exploring techniques suggested by several contemporary masters of the prose poem..

For more info, visit this page here: https://lighthousewriters.org/workshop/detail/id/332/

On Monday, June 7th, at from 5 till 7:30pm, I'll be teaching a workshop on writing epistolary poems and fictions as part of Lighthouse Writers' 5th Annual LitFest.

Here's the workshop description:

Ever written one of those nasty e-mails only to delete it? Or forget to mail a card to an old friend and then discover that he died? In this seminar, we'll discuss the craft of the letter poem and the letter in storytelling and guide you through the composition of one of your own.

For more info, visit this page here: https://lighthousewriters.org/workshop/detail/id/332/

As part of the Five Points Jazz Festival here in Denver, I'll be discussing the process of recognition, repetition and innovation in the work of four trios of musicians, to connect the deep tradition to the contemporary scene.

Both talks will take place in the Community Room at the Blair Caldwell African American Research Library, 2401 Welton at the FIVE POINTS JAZZ FESTIVAL on Saturday, May 22!

1:00PM
Chord #1: Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, Ron Miles
Chord #2: Lester Young, John Coltrane, Steve Lacy

3:00PM
Chord #3: Jelly Roll Morton, Herbie Hancock, Robert Glasper
Chord #4: Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus, Jason Moran

As part of the Five Points Jazz Festival here in Denver, I'll be discussing the process of recognition, repetition and innovation in the work of four trios of musicians, to connect the deep tradition to the contemporary scene.

Both talks will take place in the Community Room at the Blair Caldwell African American Research Library, 2401 Welton at the FIVE POINTS JAZZ FESTIVAL on Saturday, May 22!

1:00PM
Chord #1: Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, Ron Miles
Chord #2: Lester Young, John Coltrane, Steve Lacy

3:00PM
Chord #3: Jelly Roll Morton, Herbie Hancock, Robert Glasper
Chord #4: Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus, Jason Moran

I'll be repping Copper Nickel at this not-to-be-missed:

How It Makes it Through: A (Practical) Literary Journal Panel
Saturday, April 24, 10:00 AM to Noon
@Tattered Cover LoDo, 1628 16th Street, Downtown Denver
Listen and learn as several esteemed literary journal editors recall the step-by-step process of a specific submission that ultimately made it into their journal, from the letter (or email) coming through the door, to the journal going out the door. The editors will also talk about the general process and state of affairs on their end, and give you new ways to look at this sometimes perplexing process of getting into print. Panelists include: Harrison Fletcher, MFA, editor of upstreet; Stephanie G'Schwind, editor of Colorado Review; Jake Adam York, editor of Copper Nickel.

I'll be discussing my work as part of a panel entitled "Giving Breath To Ghosts" on Saturday, April 10th, at 3pm as part of the 2010 AWP Conference here in Denver.

The official description of the panel:

A Chorus of Hauntings: Giving Breath to Ghosts. (Deborah Poe, Cole Swensen, Jake Adam York, Kate Greenstreet, Selah Saterstrom, Claudia Smith) This panel consists of fiction, poetry, and hybrid-genre writers whose literary work is deeply invested in meditations on ghosts and hauntings. The panel considers how writers negotiate history and human experience, illuminating what traces of violence, fragmented identity, collective guilt, memory, grief, and memorial mean for writing. This chorus of hauntings embodies the persistent presence of history as it asks difficult questions about lessons the "spirit world" might attempt to pass on.