Something about a poetry table at the entrance to the Denver Airport Tattered Cover brought tears to my eyes. I love the thought of passengers on planes flying all over the planet reading poetry and finding spiritual connection to language and life as they float above the terrestrial world. @tatteredcoverbookstore
Jerry Garcia “had no desire to improve himself as a soldier” his Army Captain said in 1960. He said Garcia was “unreliable, irresponsible, immature, unwilling to accept authority, and completely lacking in soldierly qualities.” Thank goodness that he wasn’t soldier material. If you live in the Roaring Fork Valley, come to the live podcast interview with Jim Newton on this biography which offers a political lens on Garcia’s impact on American culture and the influence of American politics on Garcia and the Grateful Dead @tacaw_org on April 21. Tickets are free. RSVP to TACW.
This corporeal existence is so holy in its beauty and its suffering. This luscious Earth. This fleeting breath. This day. This moment. This bigness. So hard to contain in one body. In one sky.
Out of more than 550 episodes, this one contained something luminous. It's unlike many of the interviews I've done. Maybe because we connected on where we grew up, maybe because mortality was front and center and articulated in new ways, maybe just because we both laughed a lot. Please check it out. Thank you to Philip Schultz! @w.w.norton@thewritersstudio1987@literaryhub #pulitzerprize #authorinterview #poetry #literarypodcast #creativewriting
Thank you @tayari for sharing so honestly about your creative process and struggles, finding your identity as a writer, mining the places in your family's past to find a setting for Kin, friendship, illness and recovery, and the strawberry candies that will be in your pocket when you're an old lady. Listen now. @aaknopf oprahsbookclub @literaryhub #authorinterview #literarypodcast #tayarijones #atlantaauthor #firstdraftadialogueonwriting
💭✍ "Step out of the illusion of separation and into the truth that we, too, are animals—creatures of instinct, memory, breath, and dream."
Join VOICES and facilitator Mitzi Rapkin (who you might recognize as host of the popular literary podcast, First Draft) for the third and final installment of our winter Story Circle series at the @basaltlibrary in just two weeks! "Dreaming Animals" is Tuesday, March 3rd, 2026 from 5-7pm.
This event is free, open to the public, and no preparation is required. Mitzi says: "This workshop centers curiosity rather than analysis and presents an invitation through oral and written storytelling to reclaim the animal intelligence dreaming inside each of us."
A very special thanks goes to the Basalt Public Arts Commission (BPAC) for making this community event possible!
#voicesrfv #voicesoftheroaringforkvalley #roaringforkvalley #roaringfork #basaltcolorado #basaltco #snowmass #snowmassco #snowmasscolorado #aspencolorado #carbondalecolorado #carbondaleco #storycircle #storytelling
Grateful for the conversation with George Saunders who said, "I'm not exactly sure what the book means.” He writes into the questions without seeking answers. We talk about that as well as morbidity, Scrooge, finding higher truths in the text, using craft to find your way through a novel and more. He said at the end of our talk about writing Vigil, "I struggled with this one. It was a hard book to write for a lot of reasons. So I just feel happy that it's in the world, and I'm eager to roll over to whatever the next thing turns out to be.” I can't wait to read what comes next. Listen wherever you get your podcasts today. @penguinrandomhouse #georgesaunders #authorinterview #literarypodcast #vigilbygeorgesaunders #fictionbooks #creativewriting #writersofinstagram
✨Coming up on Tuesday, February 3rd!
Come with VOICES to find a bit of sparkle in the depth of midwinter at our next Story Circle. Featuring our outstanding facilitator (and host of the First Draft @firstdraftadow podcast) Mitzi Rapkin, this gathering centers story-sharing around a theme of 'Lanterns & Light'.
As Mitzi says: "What stories are you waiting to tell that speak of illumination—guidance in dark times, subtle flickers, steady glows? Darkness and light sit side by side and inform one another. How can we contain and then release the sparks within to spread light or extinguish what no longer serves us?"
Following this prompt theme, participants will be guided toward oral and written storytelling from their own life experiences. This FREE event will take place at the @basaltlibrary from 5-7 p.m. All are welcome, and sharing personal stories with the group is encouraged but not required. Come see what it's all about!
Let us know you're coming at the link in our bio!
#voicesrfv #voicesoftheroaringforkvalley #roaringforkvalley #voicesstorycircles #winterstorycircles #storycircle #basaltco #basaltcolorado #carbondaleco #carbondalecolorado #snowmasscolorado #snowmass #snowmassco #coloradoarts #storytelling #community #connection
✨ Our first winter Story Circle at the Basalt Library was beautiful!
'Tellers of Fortune: Unfolding Stories of Hope, Whimsy, and Destiny' was facilitated by Mitzi Rapkin (host of the beloved First Draft podcast) and included both written and oral storytelling opportunities for attendees. Using folded paper fortune tellers (remember those from childhood? 🥰) the group explored, as Rapkin says, "big ideas and personal experiences with coincidence, luck, joy, fear, failure, fortune, and victory."
If you missed this special evening, fear not! VOICES invites you to attend one or both of our next Story Circles from 5-7pm on Tuesday, February 3rd and Tuesday, March 3rd. Head to /event/15870927 or the link in our bio to RSVP. Free and open to all!
February theme: 'Lanterns and Light: Storytelling as a form of tending a flame'
March theme: 'Dreaming Animals: Reclaiming the animal intelligence dreaming inside us'
#voicesrfv #voicesoftheroaringforkvalley #roaringforkvalley #basaltcolorado #basaltco #carbondaleco #carbondalecolorado #bonedale #snowmassco #snowmass #snowmasscolorado #storytelling #coloradoarts #storycircle #voicesstorycircles
Gratitude for a good thing in 2025. Books, reading, writing, creativity, conversations, and community. I'm so grateful to all the writers who said yes to being on the show and the publicists that made it happen. And most significantly, I could not – cannot– do this without my patrons. Thank you for supporting this endeavor. And thank you to all the listeners. Here's to 52 more nourishing conversations in 2026. May the light capture us all and lift us up. May beautiful words captivate our souls. May our hearts be full with the things that are good in the world. (See all slides for the 2025 roster.)
I’m so thrilled to (finally) have a new podcast cover after 12 years and 550 episodes that feels like what this podcast creation feels like for me. This is an illustration of my house that feels like a house of books spilling out everywhere. Ideas flow in and out and nothing is too serious. And there I am with my headphones tuning out the world to read. This is a sacred space to me and I am so moved to have created this with the fabulous @jgoldberg_design who brought so much talent and care to the design. What do you think?
"I've seen that everyone has their own kind of 'what if' questions about their lives. Mine is: What if I never left California? What if I was still living out there. I'm sure my parents have what if questions about leaving El Salvador. I think a lot of immigrants have what if questions about what it means to leave a home for another. “And I just felt it was like this very rich universal question that is kind of endlessly fascinating, which is why I think I keep returning to it.”
Thank you @rubenreyes_jr for being a guest on First Draft, for making the trip to @basaltlibrary for a fascinating discussion about your work, immigration, speculation, identity, and more. It was a gift to have you visit us. #literaryfiction #literarypodcast #authorinterview #rubenreyesjr #creativewriting
