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Aspen Words

Aspen Words

Aspen Public Radio is proud to present select lectures, discussions, and conversations from area events and festivals, thanks to a remarkable collection of community partners. Click here to view the full archive. Events are recorded at no cost to the partner and archived here online; select recordings are broadcast on Aspen Public Radio Sunday nights at 7 p.m.
  • Bestselling author of “Cutting for Stone,” Abraham Verghese wraps up the 2024 Winter Words season, presenting his latest work, “The Covenant of Water,” also a New York Times bestseller, as well as an Oprah’s Book Club selection and the subject of a six-part podcast series hosted by Oprah Winfrey. This mystical work of fiction follows three generations of a family which experiences mysterious tragedy on the South Indian coast. Verghese talks about his inspiration for the novel and how his deep and knowledgeable background in the medical field influences his work.
  • What is it like to leave everything you know behind? Listen in for a Winter Words talk with memoirist and award-winning poet Safiya Sinclair, as she discusses her new book, “How to Say Babylon.” This Read with Jenna TODAY show book club pick examines the author’s rigid Rastafarian upbringing and her efforts to break free from the patriarchal structure which defined her youth.
  • World-champion climber Sasha DiGiulian joined Aspen Words to discuss her memoir, “Take the Lead: Hanging On, Letting Go, and Conquering Life’s Hardest Climbs.” From learning to climb as a six year old to putting up first ascents around the world, DiGiulian details her path to becoming one of the most successful climbers of all time while navigating a male-dominated sport, dealing with body dysmorphia in the age of social media, and channeling a competitive spirit into entrepreneurship and climate advocacy. If you love Tommy Caldwell’s “Push” or Cheryl Strayed’s “Wild,” this evening of adventure literature is not to be missed.
  • The 2024 Winter Words season began with acclaimed, award-winning author Ann Patchett and her longtime literary friend, Elizabeth McCracken in conversation. Patchett returned to the Aspen Words stage and discussed her latest work, Tom Lake, a “Reese’s Book Club” selection. The novel is a meditation on young love, married love, and the lives parents have led before children. McCracken is the author of eight books including her most recent novel, “The Hero of This Book.”
  • Listen in for a spoken word poetry performance featuring teaching artists Natasha “natty” Carrizosa, Logan Phillips and Joaquín Zihuatanejo, who perform their original work. Carrizosa is a poet, writer, speaker, and creative writing teacher and the author of the poetry collections “mexiafricana,” “heavy light,” and “crown;” Phillips teaches at the University of Arizona and is the author of “Sonoran Strange;” and Zihuatanejo is the author of the poetry collection “Arsonist,” and the current poet laureate of Dallas, TX.
  • Listen in to this Aspen Words author talk with award-winning independent journalist and October 2023 Writer in Residence Miles W. Griffis, who discusses his writing about queer ecology and birding, including his focus on the local gray jay and a “brief history of avian drag.” Griffis is in conversation with local writer, Aspen Words Writer in Residence program partner and ACES board chair, Daniel Shaw.
  • Aspen Words executive director and author of the bestselling memoir “Wild Game” Adrienne Brodeur discusses her new novel, “Little Monsters,” a riveting story about Cape Cod, complicated families, and long-buried secrets. The talk was moderated by Elizabeth Nix.
  • Listen in for an author talk featuring Brittany Penner, an Indigenous Métis writer and family physician. Brittany was in conversation with Daniel Shaw, local writer and program partner.
  • 2023 Aspen Words Literary Prize winner, Jamil Jan Kochai talks at the Pitkin County Library on his new book “The Haunting of Hajji Hotak." The talk was moderated by Aspen Public Radio’s Executive Director, Breeze Richardson.
  • Jean Chen Ho is the author of “Fiona and Jane,” named a Best Book of the Year by NPR and one of Time’s 100 Must-Read Books of 2022. Her writing appears in New York Times Magazine, The Cut, Electric Literature, Los Angeles Times, Georgia Review and elsewhere.