Join us every month on fourth Fridays for a Spoken Word Open Mic Night from 4:30-6:00 p.m. The Western Colorado Writers’ Forum has partnered with Carboy Winery in Palisade, CO,  to bring you this opportunity to read your work. We welcome poetry, prose, storytelling, and slam, and all skill levels are welcome.

Signups start onsite at 4:15 and there is a 5-7 minute time limit. We’ve had new readers attend these sessions, and the time limits are our effort to make sure everyone has a chance at the mic. Any time limit is not to limit your voice but to encourage inclusion.

Next date is Jan. 24.

John E. Stith, author of Manhattan Transfer, Redshift Rendezvous, Tiny Time Machine and others will sign Tiny Time Machine: The Complete Trilogy (October, 2024) and his newest book, Disavowed (December, 2024), at Hooked on Books in Colorado Springs, January 25 from 1 to 3 p.m. Stith’s signing coincides with the COSine science fiction convention that weekend. Learn more about Stith’s work at his website.

COSine 2025 will feature Lawrence Watt-Evans, author of The Ethshar Series and many more sci-fi books; science guest of honor Dr. Ka Chun Yu, Curator of Space Science at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science; cryptopictographer Theresa Mather; Courtney Miller, aka Dr. Science and others. Held in Colorado Springs since 2024, COSine features numerous sci-fi and fantasy authors, artists and fans, as well as panels, an art show, author signing & reception, gaming, science & technology, dealers room, kids’ programming, liquid nitrogen ice‑cream, and more.

Western Colorado Writers’ Forum announces a call for manuscripts for its anthology, Western Colorado Voices, showcasing the diverse talents of Colorado residents west of the continental divide. They are seeking fiction, memoir, history and poetry, original work that highlights a love of the human experience and finely-wrought language. All manuscripts will be judged anonymously by their editorial board. The anthology will be printed both as an e-book and print-on-demand hard copy. Submissions open Nov. 1 and end Jan. 31, 2025. For guidelines and more, click here.

Have you wondered how editors know from the first page if they are reading professional-level work? What traits mark publishable writing from the easily rejected? Long-time writer, editor, and teacher, James Van Pelt shares the secret publishing handshake with you in this valuable 90 minutes. Change how you write forever. Tues., Feb. 4, 6 – 7:30 p.m.

James Van Pelt has been selling short fiction to many of the major venues since 1989. Recently he retired from teaching high school English after thirty-seven years in the classroom. He has been a finalist for the Nebula, the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award, Locus Awards, and Analog and Asimov’s Reader’s Choice awards.

Hosted by Western Colorado Writers’ Forum at The Art Center in Grand Junction.