Literature: Summer Writing Program at Naropa University

Every year, Naropa University in Boulder hosts the Summer Writing Program. Included on the roster is a series of readings featuring some of the most celebrated, strange, equally intellectual and down-to-earth writers of poetry and fiction.

Personally, I especially look forward to:

June 24th: Douglas A. Martin, Reed Bye, Eleni Sikelianos, Alice Notley and Anselm Hollo. Even if you are under the impression that you don’t like poetry, go to this one. Aside from great local (and underappreciated) acts like Sikelianos and Hollo, is Alice Notley, wife of the late Ted Berrigan, mother of Edmund and Anselm Berrigan, major figure in the New York School of Poetry (add The Descent of Alette to your summer reading list, by the way). Notley currently resides in Paris and is NEVER in the U.S. so often for readings anymore, much less Colorado.

June 26th: Elizabeth Robinson, Jack Collom, Will Alexander, Linh Dinh and Laura Mullen. Robinson is one of the best well-read people you’ll ever meet. Her poetry is emotive, subtle and weblike. I’m not terribly familiar with Collom’s work (not yet, at least) but I’ve seen him read once and he is hilarious.

July 5th: Eileen Myles, Daisy Zamora, Anne Waldman, Thulani Davis and Amiri Baraka. With all the performative work I see showcased at various open-mics in Denver, this is not to be missed. The work by these people is highly, highly musical AND philosophically edgy. Eileen Myles is a treat, I’ve never seen Anne Waldman perform the same way twice, and Amiri Baraka is bone-rattling (at least on audio, this July will be my first time seeing him perform).

Archives of various poets reading at Naropa are available here:

www.archive.org/details/naropa

So take a mini-trip out of Denver to Naropa’s Performing Arts Center, 2130 Arapahoe Ave. All readings are 8pm and cost $6. For a full schedule see www.naropa.edu/swp/events.cfm