Literary events in the metro area this week will take you from the silly to the sublime: Play a round of "Where’s Waldo" with Momo the dog or fall under the spell of a novel rooted in the Canadian prairie. And if putting words together is your passion, Lighthouse Writers Workshop will kick off its annual Lit Fest — and there's a party, too.
Andrew Knapp and Momo, Find Momo Coast to Coast
Boulder Book Store
7:30 p.m. Thursday, June 4
$5 voucher required for entry
Photographer Andrew Knapp and his border collie, Momo, like to travel, crossing North America and seeing the sights in a 1977 Volkswagen Westfalia van. Knapp’s photos of Momo, slyly hiding from the camera everywhere from Grand Central Station to the French Quarter, have made the dog an Internet sensation with more than 300,000 followers on Instagram; now he’s gathered the best images into a second collection, Find Momo Coast to Coast. Meet the man and his furry muse in Boulder Thursday; a $5 voucher good toward purchase of the book will ensure your entry at the event, so plan ahead.
Lit Fest Kick-off Party
Lighthouse Writers Workshop
6 to 9 p.m. Friday, June 5
Admission: $30 to $40
For writers and lovers of literature alike, Denver’s Lighthouse Writers Workshop is a civic treasure, ensconced in a stately Capitol Hill mansion. Once a year, the organization opens its doors for the intensive, two-week Lit Fest, a combination of workshops and seminars for serious wordsmiths of all ages and public readings and events for everyone. Get in the swing of the written word on June 5 when Lighthouse Writers sets the whole thing in motion at a literary mingle with live music and a catered dinner with drinks. Lit Fest then gets down to business on June 6 with Writer’s Pedigree: Myth or Reality, a salon with authors Steve Almond, Amanda Rea, Benjamin Whitmer and Eleanor Brown. Learn more or register for continuing workshops and events at Lit Fest online.
Emma Hooper, Etta and Otto and Russell and James
7 p.m. Friday, June 5
Free
Canadian-born Emma Hooper is a writer with a musician’s soul. The violist and WOMAD performer whose solo project, Waitress for the Bees, includes interludes played on accordion, glockenspiel and a musical saw, will introduce the paperback version of her first novel, Etta and Otto and Russell and James, in Boulder on June 5. Set partially on the harsh plains of Saskatchewan, the book moves forward in the present with flashbacks to the past for its story of aging spouses and friends facing new life adventures.
What's on the next page in Denver's literary world? Visit Westword's Literary Event listings for this week.