Three men who meld a love of outdoor adventure and sport with the contemplative art of poetry will share their work tonight around the poetic campfire.
Peter Anderson: You know, we show up at these events, people that are interested in poetry and the poet poets themselves, kind of like people showing up to a campfire and, and, you know, hanging out and telling stories and exchanging ideas and images and that kind of thing.
KDNK: That's Peter Anderson, a retired newspaperman and magazine editor, and one-time poetry editor for the Mountain Gazette. He's also worked as a river guide and wilderness ranger. Today, he lives in Creststone in the San Luis Valley with his family and immerses himself in poetry, authoring works, exploring wildness, mountain places, and the life of the spirit.
Anderson will be joined by fellow poets Craig Nielsen of Salida and Rick Kempa, a retired college professor living in Grand Junction. It turns out poetry is not just a solitary pursuit of introverts. Poetry has a social side.
Anderson: A poetry festival in Salida is where Craig and I met, uh, that was about 20 years ago, more than 20 years ago. And Craig is the founding member of a group of poets called the River City Nomad which has performed in Aspen three or four times. Craig and I were both members of that gang and had great fun over the years coming over to Aspen and doing performances for the Aspen Poetry Society. So that's one link in our past experiences. But we're neighbors. I mean, Salida and Creststone aren't that far apart.
Rick Kempa and I got to know each other through a magazine that I used to publish called Pilgrimage. And Rick was one of the folks who submitted some work, and we got to know each other later on. So the three of us decided to do this little tour just because we share so much in common in terms of love of wild places. Much of our writing and work comes out of that experience and love of wild places.
KDNK: The three friends will meet tonight at White River Books to read their poetry out loud, but also to answer questions and engage in conversation about writing, a sense of place, and the importance of wilderness and untamed nature. It's the first stop on a tour of independent bookstores in the region. On Thursday, they're on to the Lithic Bookstore and Gallery in Fruita, and Friday we'll find them in Moab at the library.
Anderson: In our part of the world, on the Western slope and down here in the San Luis Valley, we have a really vibrant and active, um, poetry community that meets up every now and then at various events and, uh, readings and such. And I think poetry is a way into a community of kindred spirits that are eager to find language that speaks from a deeper place, perhaps than a lot of say, like journalism or, you know, just nonfiction... about matters of the heart and soul, and perhaps matters of the spirit.
Peter Anderson, Craig Nielsen, and Rick Kempa look forward to finding community here with those who love words and the spirit they give form to in books of poetry.
