📅 Event Details

Date: Saturday, September 26, 2026
Festival: 9:00am–9:30pm
Box office opens: 8:30am
Location: The Art Center of Western Colorado
1803 N 7th St, Grand Junction, CO 81501

Tickets available at the door
$50 for the entire festival · $20 per individual show
Half-price admission for high school and college students and seniors ages 75 and older.

✨ A Day of Poetry & Connection

Enjoy a morning sharing circle, a poetry “playshop” with Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer, a lecture by David Rothman exploring poet Belle Turnbull, regional poet spotlights, and an open mic. Meet fellow poetry lovers and explore tables featuring regional poetry programs and booksellers.

The evening celebrates a new chapter in Western Slope poetry as Wendy Videlock passes the two-year Western Slope Poet Laureate title to Danny Rosen of Lithic Bookstore and Press in Fruita. Readings by L. Luis Lopez, Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer, and Wendy Videlock lead into the ceremony.

The 13th annual Karen Chamberlain Prize for Lifetime Achievement in Colorado Poetry will be awarded posthumously to Andrea Gibson, with an acceptance video from their partner, Megan Falley. Winners of the international Fischer Poetry Prize and Colorado’s Cantor Poetry Prize will also be announced. Each prize awards $1,000 to its first-place winner and $250 to each of five finalists.

Show 1: Welcome & Morning Gourd Circle

9:00am–10:45am

• 9:00–9:10am: Festival welcome with Art Goodtimes
• 9:10–9:15am: Indigenous acknowledgment with Kirbie Bennett of Durango
• 9:15–9:30am: Spotlight: Kirbie Bennett
• 9:30–10:45am: Morning Gourd Circle with Art Goodtimes

Show 2: Poetry Playshop

11:00am–12:45pm

• 11:00–11:15am: Spotlight: Mike Olschewsky of Nucla
• 11:15am–12:45pm: Playshop with Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer

Show 3: Discover Belle Turnbull

2:00pm–3:45pm

• 2:00–2:15pm: Spotlight: Ruth Duffy of Nucla
• 2:15–3:45pm: Lecture on Belle Turnbull of Breckenridge with David Rothman of Salt Lake City

Show 4: Regional Spotlights & Open Mic

4:00pm–6:15pm

• 4:00–4:45pm: Spotlights: Elle Metrick, Lynda LaRocca, Travis Hill, Brenda Wildrick, Deborah Westervelt, Karen Bellerose, and A Love Supreme
• 4:45–6:15pm: Open mic hosted by Art Goodtimes. Sign up at box office registration; spotlight performances are by invitation.

Show 5: Laureate Readings & Awards

7:30pm–9:30pm

• 7:30–7:45pm: DLC/Mueller invocation and welcome with Art Goodtimes; announcement of Fischer and Cantor Poetry Prize winners
• 7:45–8:00pm: Reading: L. Luis Lopez
• 8:00–8:15pm: Reading: Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer
• 8:15–8:30pm: Reading: Wendy Videlock
• 8:30–9:00pm: Western Slope Poet Laureate ceremony honoring incoming laureate Danny Rosen
• 9:00–9:30pm: Karen Chamberlain Prize ceremony honoring the late Andrea Gibson, including an acceptance video from their partner, Megan Falley; closing with Art Goodtimes

💬 Learn More

Explore Talking Gourds and its poetry programs, or contact Art Goodtimes at art@tellurideinstitute.org with questions about the festival.

📖 Explore Talking Gourds