Susan Orlean cuts a slight but certain figure. When she and moderator Christine Benedetti took the Paepcke Auditorium stage on Jan. 28, no one in the audience could doubt that Orlean enjoys a good conversation. That was how she passed the next hour: Cheerful chatting about her years as a features journalist and her newest […]
Aspen Words
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Local journalism gave me the opportunity to pursue my dreams
Let’s rewind the clocks 21 months. I was in the Roaring Fork Valley between the third and fourth semesters of my graduate studies, which I was pursuing via a small international university in southwestern Germany. In my free time, I was writing — not a new habit — but I was wondering if it was […]
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A writing initiation: Awestruck steps into the world of [Aspen] Words
Editor’s Note: Annalise Grueter is a member of the Aspen Writers Network. This column details her recent experience at the Aspen Summer Words juried workshops. If you’ve been reading The Sopris Sun for at least a couple of weeks, you already know that this valley harbors an impressive roster of passionate writers. From local journalists […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Aspen Literary Festival’s first draft due Sept. 26-28
EDITOR’S NOTE: Annalise Grueter is a member of the Aspen Writer’s Network and participant in its Summer Words workshops. Currently, a tribe of people devoted to painting a picture in black and white for the mind’s eye are eagerly discussing their craft in Snowmass Village. This is the 49th anniversary of Aspen Words, and the […]
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Aspen Writers Network strengthens voices of Valley creatives
Editor’s note: Annalise Grueter is a member of Aspen Writers Network. The third Thursday evening of each month, Carbondale’s Bonfire Coffee bustles with activity. Two to three dozen people mingle, sipping seltzer and wine, grazing from charcuterie boards and eagerly chatting about a shared interest: writing. The Aspen Writers’ Network (AWN) is a creative coalition […]
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Kevin Fedarko compels audience to get involved with outdoor stewardship
The second 2025 Aspen Winter Words event sold out weeks in advance, and it wasn’t a surprise. The Feb. 5 event at The Arts Campus at Willits (TACAW) featured outdoor writer Kevin Fedarko. His second narrative about the Grand Canyon, “A Walk in the Park,” came out in May 2024 and, just a few weeks […]
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Pulitzer-winning playwright Ayad Akhtar kicks off Winter Words discussing creativity in the age of AI
The doors shut. The lights dropped, save for a single spotlight on a podium at the side of the stage. A slender tuxedo-clad figure emerged out of the audience into that spare brightness. It was not immediately clear whether the first words spoken were from William H. Macy as a local arts enthusiast or as […]
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Winter Words 2024 is underway
Aspen Words, a local nonprofit, is gearing up for its 27th Annual Winter Words series, which will take place between the Paepcke Auditorium in Aspen and TACAW in Basalt from Jan. 11 through Mar. 14. Aspen Words is dedicated to encouraging readers, inspiring writers and connecting the people of The Roaring Fork Valley through the […]
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Scuttlebutt & Calendar – April 27, 2023
Share the Love As part of the 2022 Subaru Share the Love Event, Phil Long Glenwood Springs Subaru donated $15,500 to River Bridge Regional Center. This is the second year in a row that River Bridge was selected for their impact. The aid will help over 250 children receive supportive services and was made in […]
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Aspen Writers’ Network speaks a writer’s language
Ernest Hemingway, arguably one of the greatest writers of the 20th century, once said of his craft: “There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.” It’s not quite as melodramatic as Hemingway suggests, but you get the gist of his message. Being a writer can, at times, […]