Three Book and Poetry Events for the Week of August 11-17

It's not too late to travel this summer. The best thing about books is that they can take you anywhere -- and you never have to leave your house. They challenge your mind or simply tickle it, and like the best travels, memories stay with you long after the trip is over. Without leaving metro Denver this week, you can venture into prose and poetry of the American West, explore a mystery on four legs and dig into a trove of Colorado authors.

See also: Soldier Girls: The Battles of Three Women at Home and at War

Chautauqua Author Series James Galvin: The Meadow, Prose & Poetry Chautauqua Community House 7:30 p.m. Monday, August 11 $9 to $12

The Colorado Chautauqua's excellent author series brings a voice of the West, writer and poet James Galvin, to the stage of Chautauqua Community House for an evening of readings and discussion. The much-lauded and oft-awarded faculty member at the University of Iowa's Writers' Workshop will mine more than three decades' worth of both prose and poetry during tonight's program.

Continue reading for more book events. Spencer Quinn, Paw and Order: A Chet and Bernie Mystery Tattered Cover Highlands Ranch 7 p.m. Tuesday, August 12 Free

The detective-fiction biz is riddled with sub-genres; in addition to classic whodunits, regional yarns and police procedurals, there are cat mysteries and cooking mysteries and gardening mysteries and every other kind of mystery you can think of. Spencer Quinn writes dog mysteries, starring canine sniffer Chet and his human companion, Bernie. Quinn will introduce Paw and Order: A Chet and Bernie Mystery, which follows the duo through shenanigans in Washington, D.C., Tuesday night at the Tattered Cover; be sure to bring 25 bones for your copy.

Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers "Writer of the Year" Panel 7 p.m. Thursday, August 14 Tattered Cover Colfax Avenue Free

Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers annually honors one of its own as Writer of the Year; this year's three nominees -- winner Shannon Baker, who writes mysteries with a Native-American twist, and runners-up Christine Jorgensen and Terry Wright -- will speak Thursday at the Tattered Cover Colfax during a panel on writing and publishing led by last year's winner, Linda Hull. Yes, Colorado has writers, and lots of them. Here's your chance to check out some of the best.

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

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