AWP Denver

Very briefly, we want to thank all of you who came to Denver and played with us and chatted with us over the weekend. It was a wonderful time for us, and we hope it was for you.

For those of you who found our advice helpful, you're welcome. Let's do it again some time.

If you missed us, it's not too late (never too late) to subscribe for the same low price: $13.

Some of you loved the new t-shirts. We'll have another batch of them for sale in another week or two.

Meanwhile, see what other AWPers are saying about CN:

• "The folks at Copper Nickel deserve a huge shout out for their tireless support of this year's fabulous conference."
• It was a great event, and a great space and turnout, and I was thrilled to be in such company. Thanks to everyone who organized and attended it!
• "The AWP conference and book fair provided the chance for representatives of the writing programs in Colorado, small presses (including Fulcrum Books, Unbridled Books, and Elixir Press), literary magazines (including the University of Colorado at Denver's Copper Nickel and CSU's Colorado Review), and bookstores in the area to gather under one roof for a few days."

Other Mentions:

• Rarely Likeable
• Examiner
• What Does Not Kill Me
• Sturgeon's Law

During the AWP Conference, Copper Nickel will present an audible edition of the journal featuring past contributors---including Hadara Bar-Nadav, Peter Cooley, Mike Copperman, Alyson Hagy, James Hoch, Soham Patel, Deborah Poe, and Aurelie Sheehan---on Saturday, April 10th, beginning at 8:00pm at the Denver Press Club, 1330 Glenarm (just 2 blocks from the Convention Center). The event is free and open to all comers.

Check back here for a table of contents, coming soon.

Look for us in the mix: we're hosting the second part of this extravaganza on Saturday, April 10...

Some of you who are coming to Denver for AWP might be interested to know (and you probably didn't know) that Denver is home to a burgeoning hand-made movement, and Create Denver Week, one of its creatures, sanctioned by the city, begins on Saturday with a pop-up market just blocks from the convention center, described thus by the Denver Office of Cultural Affairs:

Create Denver Commons: Paper Art + Pop-Up Market
Produced by DOCA + Brian Corrigan
Pop-Up Market by Samuel Schimek of 15 min.
Sat, April 10 - Sat, April 17 11:00AM - 7:00PM
1600 Glenarm Place, Ste. 110 (across from the Paramount Theater)

Using this premium storefront space, DOCA will create an "economic garden" installation and pop-up store that visually represents growing Denver's creative sector. The installation will be designed by local professional artists and seeks to engage the community by asking them to help contribute to the garden participating in flower making workshops. All made from recycled paper, the installation will include flowers, garlands, garden monsters and laser cut cardboard cutouts.

Samuel Schimek, creative mind behind 15 min., will champion the Create Denver Pop-Up Store that will feature 100% Denver designed goods. Examples of merchandise are clothing, furniture, books, posters, art and jewelry.

In addition, we will continue to engage the public by inviting them to write their ideas on how to grow Denver's creative economy at designated areas in the space during both the flower making sessions and the pop-up store hours. We will capture this information on large pieces of white butcher paper that will later be used in future Create Denver endeavors.

Here's how Samuel himself describes it:

Installation of the POP-Up store is underway now. We are gathering great products designed in Denver to be featured in the store. Construction of the store is almost entirely of recycled cardboard boxes!

The Store opens April 10th and is open until April 17th. Business hours will be 11am - 7pm daily! Visitors can enjoy artwork, clothing, jewelry, paper products, and many other items all from Denver designers and artists.

If you're coming from out of town for the AWP Conference, you may be wondering what to pack and what to wear for the weather. It looks like it's going to be mighty fine, sunny with highs in the mid 60s, maybe even around 70. At night and in the morning, however, it will be cool, and this is Denver in the Spring: warm enough in mid-afternoon to make you roll up your sleeves, cool enough after sundown to need a jacket. "Layering" is the by-word.

It shouldn't rain or snow during the conference, so you needn't worry much about slick gear. But you may want to pack some sunscreen and sunglasses: when it's sunny here, you can burn real easy, and it's brighter than anyone can describe.

You may also want to read my earlier post "Notes On Altitude" for some preparatory advice.

Breakfast. Whether you're recovering from your first AWP hangover or just packing in for a long day and/or night of literary shenanigans, you might need a giant stack of pancakes or a serious deal of bacon. These are the spots to set in your sights.

Snooze: An A.M. Eatery. This is one of the newer establishments, originally opened as a refuge for those who need a little grease after Last Call, but it's now the reigning king of breakfast in Denver, and with such specialties as Sweet Potato Pancakes (with pecan butter!) it's easy to understand why. 2262 Larimer Street. Mon - Fri: 6:30a til 2:30p Sat & Sun: 7a til 2:30p. Long waits are common after 9am on Saturday and Sunday.

Dixon's (1610 16th Street) is a staple of LoDo (Lower Downtown). Locally owned, they do much of their business for lunch and supper, but breakfast is solid, though their sister restaurant Racine's (650 Sherman) is better known for early vittles. Easily accessible via 16th Street Mall Shuttle.

The Delectable Egg has two locations in striking distance of the conference. One is at 1625 Court Place and the other is at 1642 Market.

You could get breakfast elsewhere, by why would you want to?

A new addition to downtown, H Burger slings excellent burgers in the form of ground angus, Colorado lamb, tuna, and others. They don't slouch on the fries, either--regular, parmesan truffle, and sweet potato have all tickled our fancies. The milkshakes are obscenely thick, and the dining room is commodious and sleekly-styled. And are you really going to turn down the $5 gravy fries during their 3-6pm happy hour? We didn't think so. On the corner of 16th & Blake--take the free 16th Street shuttle to Blake.

The Copper Nickel crew has put in some serious time at Wazee.--it's our go-to place for a post-reading nosh. Between the delicious pizza, the top-drawer selection of beers on tap, and the old school ambiance (we're suckers for the black and white linoleum tile), we couldn't be more grateful for this LoDo (lower downtown) mainstay. They're open until 2 am from Monday to Saturday (Sundays they take it easy & close at midnight). Take the free 16th Street shuttle to Wazee and walk one block south.

Over 75 beers on tap? Check--their motto is "No Crap on Tap," and they mean it. Over 130 bottled? Double-check. Falling Rock is a noisy, unpretentious place to meet with friends and celebrate the beverage that Homer Simpson astutely referred to as "the cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems." While you're there, please make sure you check out some of Colorado's own fine brews, such as Odell, Great Divide, and Oskar Blues, Falling Rock Tap House is at 1919 Blake--take the free 16th Street shuttle to Blake and walk 3 ½ blocks north.

And if you want to hear our contributors reading, you might join them at one of these offsite readings...

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

• Farrah Field in the Slash Pine Press Poetry Marathon -- 4-8:30pm at the Rackhouse Pub, 208 S. Kalamath Street
• Noah Eli Gordon and Bin Ramke -- 7-10pm at the Ahsahta/Omnidawn Reading in the Magnolia Hotel Ballroom, 17th & Stout
• Deborah Poe -- 7pm at the Dusie Pussipo Stonecoast Femiganza at the Packinghouse Center for the Arts, 835 E 50th Ave
• Joshua Marie Wilkinson, Tarfia Faizullah, Karyna McGlynn, Allison Titus, Nate Slawson, G. C. Waldrep, and Joshua Poteat -- 7:30pm at the Diode/Makeout Creek Reading, Jones Theater, DCPA, 1101 13th Street
• John Pursley -- 7:30pm at Common Grounds Coffee House, 1550 Wazee

Thursday, April 8, 2010

• Eleni Sikelianos, Noah Eli Gordon, Julie Carr, and Sara Veglahn -- 5:30pm as part of Colorado Writers Reading at the Mercury Café, 2199 California Street
• Dan Albergotti, Jericho Brown, Stacey Lynn Brown, Michael Dumanis, Farrah Field, J. Michael Martinez, Alison Stine and Allison Benis White -- 6pm as part of Copper Nickel Presents 8 Debut Poets at the Tivoli Turnhalle, 900 Auraria Parkway/900 Larimer
• Julia Cohen--6:30pm as part of "Historic Falcon" at the Mercury Café, 2199 California Street
• Maria Melendez and Joshua Poteat -- 7pm as part of "Between Water and Song" Release Event, Wynkoop Brewery, 18th & Wynkoop
• Nate Pritts and Sandra Simonds -- 7pm as part of "Small Press Party with Bloof Books, Cooper Dillon and Noemi Press at Green Spaces Colorado, 1368 26th Street
• Sandy Florian -- 7:30pm as part of "Action Books, Litmus Press, and Nightboat Books reading" at The Thin Man, 2015 E 17th Avenue
• F Daniel Rzicznek -- 8pm as part of the Free Verse Editions Reading, Tivoli Turnhalle 900 Auraria Parkway/900 Larimer
• G. C. Waldrep -- 8:30pm as part of "13 Younger Contemporary Poets" at the Dikeou Collection, 1615 California Street

Friday, April 9, 2010

• Julie Carr -- 3pm as part of Denver Quarterly Reading and Publication Celebration at the Dikeou Collection, 1615 California Street Suite 515
• Maria Melendez -- 3:30pm as part of Pilgrimage Magazine Release Party and Reading at the Tattered Cover LoDo, 1628 16th Street
• John Gallaher -- 5pm, Black Warrior Review/Blue Hour Press Reading at Mario's Double Daugher's Salotto, 1632 Market
• Allison Benis White, John Gallaher, Mathias Svalina and Allison Titus -- 6:30pm as part of the CSU Poetry Center/Univeristy of Akron Press Poetry Reading at Paris on the Platte.
• Aaron A. Abeyta, John Chavez, Sheryl Luna, and J. Michael Martinez -- 6:30pm at the Dikeou Collection, 1615 California Street, as part of "One Poem Festival"
• Sandy Florian -- 7pm as part of the Astrophil Press Off Site Party at the Hi-Dive, 7 South Broadway
• Chris Ransick -- 7pm as part of Lighthouse Writer's Workshop event at The Jet Hotel, 1612 Wazee Street
• Steven Schroeder -- 7pm as part of the Meadowlark Poetry Marathon, 2701 Larimer Street
• George Kalamaras and Matthew Cooperman -- 8pm as part of Colorado State University's MFA Program 25th Year Celebration, Wynkoop Brewery, 18th and Wynkoop
• Roxanne Banks Malia and Jenifer Park -- 9pm as part of WILLA Goes Live at The Denver Press Club, 1330 Glenarm

Saturday, April 10, 2010

• Matthew Cooperman, Matthias Svalina, and Jake Adam York -- 5:30pm as part of Colorado Writers Read at the Denver Press Club, 1330 Glenarm
• Joshua Marie Wilkinson, John Gallaher, and Michael Dumanis -- 6pm in the book party for Starting Today anthology, at Paris on the Platte, 1553 Platte Street
• Zachary Schomburg and Julie Doxsee -- 7pm at Plus Gallery (2501 Larimer Street) in the Apostrophe/Action/Black Ocean/Slope/Tarpaulin Sky Press Pary
• Eleni Sikelianos and Sarah Veglahn -- 7pm at the Mercury Café, 2199 California Street as part of the Naropa/Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics Reading
• Harada Bar-Nadav, Alyson Hagy, James Hoch, Aurelie Sheehan and others -- 7:30pm at the Denver Press Club, 1330 Glenarm for Copper Nickel, an audible edition