More than 50 published authors are set to participate in the second annual Mesa Verde Literary Festival in downtown Mancos on Sept. 5.
The free festival will include a full day of panels, readings, author chats, a youth poetry and storytelling session and more.
Bestselling mystery writer Nina Simon is the event’s keynote speaker. Another notable attendee highlighted is Colorado’s first Indigenous poet laureate Crisosto Apache, the Mesa Verde Writers shared with The Journal.
Simon is a New York Times bestselling author for her novel “Mother-Daughter Murder Night.” The book is also a Reese’s Book Club pick and a Best of 2023 pick for Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Library Journal and CrimeReads. Before becoming a fiction author, Mesa Verde Writers said that Simon was a NASA engineer, slam poet, game designer, museum director and nonprofit CEO.
Her keynote speech will take place in the main auditorium upstairs at the Mancos Opera House to end the festival.
She will also participate in a 9 a.m. panel on writing about place at the Mancos Public Library outdoor venue and take part in a panel at 1:30 p.m. with Scott Graham at Hand in Hand Books & Bottles for a conversation titled “Deadly Fun Writing — Mysteries That Champion Our National Parks.”
Apache and Montezuma County poet Meredith Clark will host a chat at 9 a.m. at Bomdiggity – Mancos Mystical Marketplace. He will also read his poetry at 10 a.m. at Sundog Gallery and take part in a 2:45 p.m. panel on poetry at Mancos Commons.
Apache was named Colorado Poet Laureate by Gov. Jared Polis this year. He is a recipient of the Montalvo Arts Center’s Lucas Artists Fellowship and is a three-time Pushcart Prize nominee. He currently works as an associate professor of English and Creative Writing at Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design.
Many other panels will be held throughout the day, with panels being scheduled in three main time blocks: 9 to 10:15 a.m., 10:30 to 11:45 a.m., and 2:45 to 4 p.m. at the Mancos Public Library conference room, the library’s outdoor venue and Mancos Commons.
Topics include fiction techniques, character development, writing about place, empathy in storytelling, villains and monsters, poetry of hope and resilience, and more.
Other shorter author chats will run throughout the day at downtown locations including Fahrenheit, Kilgore American Indian Art, Wrightsman House, Millie’s, Painted Turtle Patio and El Rio Cantina. A pop-up bookstore operated by Hand in Hand Books & Bottles will allow attendees to purchase and have books signed by visiting authors.
Additionally, a youth poetry and storytelling event will be held outside the Mancos Commons at 4 p.m. Youth 12-19 are eligible to enter, and no registration is required. Participants will entered into a prize drawing.
Additional details and the full schedule, topics and visiting authors are available at mesaverdewriters.org/mesa-verde-literary-festival.
bduran@the-journal.com
