Literary Calendar: Three Front Range Book Events February 1-7

This week’s literary picks are all about storytelling — some of it hellish and some of it inspiring. And on Saturday, you can head to Tattered Cover Colfax to prepare for Valentine’s Day: There’s a book, or a poem, for everything and everyone. Here’s where to find them.

Juan Thompson, Stories I Tell Myself: Growing Up with Hunter S. Thompson
Boulder Book Store
7:30 p.m. Wednesday, February 3
$5 voucher required for entry
In the public eye, journalist Hunter Thomas was a legendary hard-living character, to say the least, but no one knows better what it was like to live in the path of a drug-powered dynamo than his son, Juan, whose childhood — growing up in an abusive home where guns were prominently displayed, and hanging at bars and with Hell’s Angels with his dad — was anything but normal. Juan Thompson will discuss and sign copies of his memoir, a story that ends with some sort of redemption, this week at the Boulder Book Store; the $5 voucher required at the door can be applied toward purchase of the book.
Bob and Cindy Maynard, The Maynard’s Guide to Colorado’s National Parks
Chautauqua Community House
7 p.m. Thursday, February 4
Tickets: $7 to $10
Award-winning shutterbug Bob Maynard takes stunning photos of the Rocky Mountain West and leads landscape photography tours in Colorado and the Southwest. Together with his author/naturalist wife, Cindy, he’s put together a beautiful book filled with tips for photographers wanting to follow in his footsteps. The Maynards will share stories and picture-perfect images from the wild for this evening program at Chautauqua.

Denver Writes Handmade Valentine Fundraiser
Tattered Cover Colfax Avenue
10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, February 6
Denver Writes provides year-round programs for young writers, including intensive workshops, summer camps and after-school tutoring at local high schools — so you already get that these kids know a thing or two about arranging words on a page. And you can also trust them to write the perfect poem for a hand-made Valentine card when they man a table at the Tattered Cover Colfax on February 6. Denver Writes students will compose personalized odes for the cards for just $5, which goes to supporting the program. And — bonus — you’ll get a 10 percent discount on any purchases made at the store that day.

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