Book It: The Five Best Literary Events This Week

August roars into 2019 with a whole lot of literary possibilities, from speculative fiction to the realistic spectre of death, from a range of poetry to the chocolate-frog-munching charm of Harry Potter. There’s something for everyone as summer starts to slide away: Enjoy it while it lasts.

Jennie Dear, What Does It Feel Like to Die?
Tuesday, July 30, 7 p.m.
Tattered Cover LoDo
1628 16th Street
Free
Colorado author Jennie Dear brings her fascinating new book on the realities of death to the Tattered Cover LoDo for a reading, discussion and signing. In America’s death-denying culture, how does one navigate the questions about not just passing, but the process of passing, for your loved ones as well as yourself? As we wrote in her recent interview, Dear deals with the sensitive topic in ways both charming and insightful; it’s an important conversation to have, and necessary knowledge for one’s own peace of mind.

Helen Phillips, The Need
Ramona Ausubel, Awayland
Thursday, August 1, 7 p.m.
Tattered Cover
2526 East Colfax Avenue
Free
Award-winning authors Helen Phillips and Ramona Ausubel bring their latest to the Tattered Cover for a reading and signing. The new book by Phillips (Some Possible Solutions and The Beautiful Bureaucrat) is a speculative and subversive thriller called The Need. Ausubel, the focus of an interview last fall, is the author of several novels and short story collections, the most recent of which, Awayland, was nominated for a 2018 Colorado Book Award.

Brian Barker, Vanishing Acts
Nicky Beer, The Octopus Game
Saturday, August 3, 5:30 p.m.
BookBar
4280 Tennyson Street
Free
Colorado poets Brian Barker and Nicky Beer bring their latest books to BookBar’s First Saturday Poetry Series. Barker will debut his brand-spanking-new poetry collection Vanishing Acts, and Beer will read from her new work, including from her last book, the Colorado Book Award-winning The Octopus Game. Mingling starts at 4:30 p.m., the reading at 5:30 p.m.

Kim Vodicka, The Elvis Machine
Saturday, August 3, 8 p.m.
Mutiny Information Cafe
2 South Broadway
Free
Poet Kim Vodicka, self-described “Spokesbitch of a Degeneration,” celebrates the launch of her new collection, The Elvis Machine, at Mutiny Information Cafe. She’ll read and sign the book – a “pornographic romance in poems inspired by Memphis, Tennessee” – and will be joined by special guest Hannah Neal and local dynamos Lisa Flowers, Stina French, Brice Maiurro and Zack Kopp. The event is free; books will be for sale on site.

Harry Potter Birthday Party
Sunday, August 4; kids at 5 p.m., adults at 7:30 p.m.
BookBar
4280 Tennyson Street
$15 kids/$30 adults
BookBar closes early Sunday so it can reopen for a night celebrating Harry Potter’s birthday! It’s a festive evening of activities, prizes, trivia, tarot cards, a costume contest, and more. For “First Years” (aimed at kids under twelve), the fun starts at 5 p.m. and goes until 6:30 p.m. For “Seventh Years,” the party starts at 7:30 p.m. and goes to 9:30 p.m. (And if you don’t understand the Hogwarts nomenclature there, this probably isn’t the event for you.) Tickets are $15 for the earlier event and $30 for the later one, and a (presumably magical) feast is included in the price of admission.

Have a literary event you think should be included on this list? Send details to editorial@westword.com.