Mitzi Rapkin

First Draft: A Dialogue on Writing comes to TACAW on April 21 for a live conversation with journalist and author Jim Newton. Together, they dive into his latest book Here Beside the Rising Tide, exploring Jerry Garcia, Grateful Dead, and the countercultural movement that reshaped American life. An evening for anyone drawn to storytelling, music history, and the ideas that move culture forward. #ArtsAndCulture #TACAW #LiveTalks #AuthorEvent #LiteraryArts

👉🎙The first VOICES Radio Hour podcast of 2026 is loading! Today, host Mitzi Rapkin (of @firstdraftadow podcast fame) joined three local storytellers and a production crew at @truenaturehealingarts to record the episode. VOICES has revamped the format this year, incorporating not only compelling stories but interviews with Mitzi and fascinating roundtable discussion among the storytellers, too. It's going to be a powerful new listening experience for the RFV! 👉🎙 The episode drops March 22nd. Stay tuned for more sneak peeks! A special thank-you goes to @connectionisthemedicine for sponsoring our recording space. #voicesrfv #voicesoftheroaringforkvalley #voicesradiohour #vrh2026 #roaringforkvalley #carbondaleco #carbondalecolorado #bonedale #basaltcolorado#glenwoodsprings #glenwoodspringsco #glenwoodspringscolorado #coloradoarts #storytelling #aspenco

💭✍ "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

Winter Words 2026 continued last week with the luminous Lily King 💕🧡💕 We kicked off the month of love with a beautiful conversation about her most recent novel HEART THE LOVER which touched on feelings, friendship and romantic connection. “When I read books, I want to be moved. I want to feel what that person is feeling. I want to be taken on an emotional journey. And so, [when I write] I am trying to take myself and the readers on that trip.” - Lily King Winter Words concludes this Wednesday, Feb. 11 with �🌊 Tara Roberts (WRITTEN IN THE WATERS) at TACAW. 🎟️ Tickets available at the link in our bio.

Inspiring discussion at the Aspen Institute’s Winter Words 📚

✨️Tell us your story, and we will listen.✨️ VOICES brings programming to schools, to the stage, and to the community at large. We believe that everyone has a story to tell, and that everyone deserves an opportunity to share it with others. Our mission? We amplify local voices through the arts! From Aspen to Rifle, you will find us throughout the Roaring Fork and Colorado River valleys in 2026. We're cooking up a GREAT year of arts & story sharing! The best way to stay up-to-date is to sign up for our newsletter at VOICESrfv.org. Stories are life! ✨️ #voicesrfv #voicesoftheroaringforkvalley #roaringforkvalley #carbondaleco #carbondalecolorado #coloradoarts #glenwoodsprings #riflecolorado #storytelling #basaltcolorado #aspen #aspenco #aspencolorado #glenwoodspringsco #glenwoodspringscolorado #rifleco #bonedale #westernslope #westslopebestslope #arts #artsnonprofit #nonprofit #colorado #colorfulcolorado #coloradostories #westernlife #immigrantstories #immigrantvoices #womensvoices #queervoices

✨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

✨Todas las personas son bienvenidas.✨ Si te dan curiosidad las historias, la creatividad y la conexión humana, este espacio es para ti, sin importar tu nivel de inglés.💛 Los Círculos de Historias de VOICES son un espacio público y seguro para compartir historias. Puedes venir a escuchar. Compartir es opcional. 🤗 #TuVozTuHistoria #HistoriaViva #CirculosDeHistorias

✨ 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

Join VOICES for our Winter Story Circles with Mitzi Rapkin at the Basalt Library! First up is Tuesday, January 6th, from 5-7pm! Let us know you're coming by RSVPing at the link in our bio. Come get creative with us! @firstdraftadow #voicesrfv #voicesoftheroaringforkvalley #roaringforkvalley #basaltcolorado #basaltco #storytelling #voicesstorycircles #storycircle

✨️2025 was a BIG year for VOICES!✨️ Our proudest achievement of the year was expanding our arts programming from the RFV into the Colorado River Valley. Historically, our service area has run from Basalt to Glenwood Springs. But in 2026, you will find VOICES from Aspen to Parachute! We can't thank our community enough for supporting our work, our artists, our student creatives, and for believing in the ancient power of storytelling. So come on out and be a part of the magic in 2026! Here are just a few of the projects we're cooking up... ✨️ Winter Story Circles at the Basalt Library with facilitator Mitzi Rapkin (first Tuesdays in Jan/Feb/Mar) ✨️ Women's VOICES original onstage production, May 22-24 in Carbondale at Thunder River Theater ✨️ ARTery tiny mobile stage summer pop-ups across the community ✨️ Queer VOICES original onstage production, October 23-25 in Glenwood Springs at the vaudeville theater ✨️ Plus our Youth Springboard meetings, Hero's Journaling Project in schools, VOICES Radio Hour episodes... and so much more! Visit VOICESrfv.org to learn more about what we're up to in the new year. Be sure to sign up for our newsletter to be the first to know! #voicesrfv #voicesoftheroaringforkvalley #roaringforkvalley #coloradorivervalley #carbondalecolorado #carbondaleco #aspenco #aspencolorado #basaltcolorado #glenwoodsprings #glenwoodspringscolorado #glenwoodspringsco #riflecolorado #rifleco #coloradoarts #coloradostories #storytelling

On January 13, we welcome First Draft: A Dialogue on Writing to TACAW. Hosted by literary journalist Mitzi Rapkin, this intimate evening centers on craft, voice, and the complicated questions of who gets to tell a story. Featuring author R.L. Maizes and her novel A Complete Fiction, the conversation dives into storytelling, authorship, and the cultural weight of words in a social-media-saturated world. Thank you Stacey K. Kelly at Christie’s International Real Estate for supporting TACAW. #ArtsAndCulture #TACAW #LiteraryArts #AuthorTalk #CommunityConversation