A gripping novel, memories of the music that galvanized soldiers in Vietnam, and a slam-poetry showdown are all on the docket this week for bookworms and spoken-word fans in the Denver metro.
Joyce Maynard, Under the Influence
Tattered Cover Colfax Avenue
7 p.m. Monday, March 21
Free
Famous for her tryst with J.D. Salinger as a young student and writer, Joyce Maynard has gone on to become a best-selling novelist. Maynard drops in at the Tattered Cover tonight to introduce her new book, Under the Influence, the story of a recovering alcoholic finding a new life after ending her marriage and losing custody of her son; new friends come with new problems as she’s sucked into their opposing worlds and gets caught in a dangerous coverup. Find out more and get your copy signed tonight.
Doug Bradley and Craig Werner, We Gotta Get Out of This Place: The Soundtrack of the Vietnam War
Tattered Cover Colfax Avenue
7 p.m. Thursday, March 24
180 Benson, CU-Boulder campus
6:30 p.m. Monday, March 28
Free
A music writer and a Vietnam veteran walk into a room... It sounds like the beginning of a joke, right? But veteran Doug Bradley and writer Craig Werner did just that and struck up a friendship that resulted in a book: We Gotta Get Out of This Place: The Soundtrack of the Vietnam War, which gathers stories
of how popular music wove its way through the Vietnam experience, pulling together soldiers of all ethnicities and walks of life during their darkest times. The authors are blitzing the Front Range this week to discuss We Gotta Get Out of This Place, named the best music book in 2015 by Rolling Stone magazine, including stops at the Tattered Cover in Denver and the University of Colorado in Boulder. In a nod to their subject matter, Bradley and Werner invite veterans to join them and share new memories.
Slam Nuba Last Chance Slam, featuring Confidence Omenai
Crossroads Theater
7:30 to 10:30 p.m. Friday, March 25
$5 to $10 at the door
In the next big step toward the National Poetry Slam in Georgia this August, Slam Nuba is hosting its annual Last Chance Slam, a wild-card opportunity for poets not already qualified for the Grand Slam coming up on April 8, when this year’s NPS team will be determined. Confidence Omenai, just back from competing as Slam Nuba’s representative at the 2016 Women of the World Poetry Slam, will be the featured poet; sign-up is at 7:30 p.m., the open mike starts at 8:15, and the slam kicks off at 9.
What's on the next page in Denver's literary world? Visit Westword's Literary Event listings for this week.