Go West, young readers, with Ron Hansen's retelling of the Billy the Kid legend — or engage in a little Denver-style fun from Suspect Press and City Stacks. Where will you be turning pages this week?
Ron Hansen, The Kid
Tattered Cover Colfax Avenue
7 p.m. Thursday, October 20
Award-winning author Ron Hansen previously fictionalized the Wild West legends of historical criminals like the Dalton Gang and Jesse James in his early novels Desperadoes and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. Now he returns to the genre to profile another American outlaw in The Kid, which details the rise and fall of Billy the Kid. Hansen hits the Tattered Cover with six-shooters blazing on October 20; pick up a copy for $26 and get a reading and his John Hancock as part of the deal.
Suspect Press Release Party
Deer Pile
8 p.m. Saturday, October 22
Suspect Press, the homegrown, pro-Denver publishing project of entrepreneur Dan Landes and writers Josiah Hesse, Kaela Martin and Ken Arkind, will celebrate the publication of its twelfth quarterly lit magazine, as well as the release of a new addition to the press’s signature “audio bookmark” collection — a Meep Records vinyl flexi-disc of Hesse reading a passage from his novel Carnality: Dancing on Red Lake, with music by Adam Baumeister. The evening includes readings by Landes, Hesse, Charly “City Mouse” Fasano and Suzi Q. Smith, with music by Anna Smith. Drop in at Deer Pile, buy some merch and support your local creative!
Zombies in the Stacks + Walking Dead Poetry Open-Mic
City Stacks Books and Coffee
3 to 8 p.m. Saturday, October 22
Bookworms can be zombies, too: City Stacks will sacrifice its shelves to undead hordes overtaking downtown Denver for the eleventh annual Denver Zombie Crawl with a little fun of its own — beginning with a zombie-tales session and face painting for kids at 3 p.m. before segueing into a Halloween-themed poetry reading and open mic (non-zombies allowed) from 6 to 7:30 p.m.

What's on the next page in Denver's literary world? Visit Westword's Literary Event listings for this week.