Poetry, the ABCs of life, and life in the Colorado mountains: author readings at Inkberry Books

Inkberry Books continues its program of author readings on Friday, May 27 and Saturday, May 28 at 7:00 p.m. each evening. Since opening in 2018, the bookstore has hosted over 100 authors from Colorado and other parts of the country.

Niwot resident and longtime bookstore enthusiast Linda Bevard expressed her appreciation for the bookstore and its events during Niwot's Around the World Day May 14. "I almost feel like it's a family...," Bevard said. "Because there are so many of us who come back every time ... When I first came to Niwot it was this bookstore that gave me my social group. That really meant a lot to me. I love being in a bookstore; I like people who like bookstores, I like reading and writing and the last book reading I came to, by author Greg Sanders, was very funny."

On the 27th, Jake Hollingsworth, author of "I'm Not From Around Here: Travels in Asia," will read from his collection of travel stories. "I'm excited for the opportunity to read a bit of my story at Inkberry Books," Hollingsworth said. "Communities thrive when they support and encourage the arts, and Inkberry gets that."

Originally from South Carolina, Hollingsworth settled in Denver after a decade of teaching English in the classrooms of Korea, Vietnam, Mexico, Ukraine, and New York City. The first half of the collection, "Welcome to Buseok," recounts Jake's experience spending a year far from home, teaching countryside Korean children the ABCs of life at Buseok Elementary School.

The second part of the book, "The Abhatoofan," tells the tale of a lonely, eye-opening, and ultimately priceless train journey across India, from Kolkata to Delhi. Hollingsworth will read excerpts from his book, as well as a few yet unpublished stories from his time in Asia.

Naropa graduate Alexander Shalom Joseph will be reading for his second time at the bookstore on May 28th. His new collection of poetry is called, "Our Mother, The Mountain," after the album by the same name by the folk musician Townes Van Zandt. This work is a collection of prose poems detailing a year of living up in the mountains outside of Boulder, all of which were first published in a weekly column in the local town newspaper. This work is split into four sections, following the four seasons, and detail not only nature and the changing states of nature, but themes such as climate change, solitude, the relationship between civilization and wilderness, homemaking and many other things.

Joseph is a Jewish-American writer and author of the short story collection "American Wasteland." It is said in the Talmud that there are three ways to be a good Jew: study, prayer, and acts of loving kindness - Joseph thinks of his writing and work as an educator as a mix of all three.

Working as a teacher, construction worker, and at various other jobs to get by, he lives in the mountains of Colorado with a room full of books. "Last summer at the release of my short story collection," Joseph said, "Gene [Hayworth] and everybody else at Inkberry provided such a warm, communal, and open space for me and those who attended the reading. With the release of my newest book, I immediately thought of Inkberry again as a place to give a reading for this work. The outdoor seating, the wonderful introduction, reception and support that Gene sets up take the reading from an event to something more like a family gathering."

The events at Inkberry will be followed by a reception for the author with light refreshments and a chance to talk to the author and get a book signed.