Aspen Writers’ Foundation Kicks Off Summer Words with Local Writers Round Up

(June 21, 2006) Aspen, CO … The Aspen Writers’ Foundation is pleased to announce its 1st annual Local Writers Round Up, held June 24 from 3:30 pm-5 pm on the grounds of the Aspen Historical Society’s Wheeler/Stallard House Museum. This community event will feature readings by a dozen acclaimed authors and refreshments catered by Aspen Sojourner magazine and Range restaurant. The Local Writers Round Up kicks off the AWF’s 30th annual Aspen Summer Words Literary Festival, which continues through June 29th at The Gant. The Local Writers Round Up is free and open to the public.

“On the eve of our three-decade birthday in Aspen, we thought it was fitting to honor the stand-out writers in our midst and the literary community in Aspen who have supported us all these years,” says AWF executive director Lisa Consiglio of the organization’s decision to launch the new event. “There are so many talented writers in this valley that we hope to make this an annual event!”

Round Up authors include: Janet Guthrie, Scott Lasser, Karen Glenn, Dexter Cirillo, John Boslough, Juliane Heyman, Bruce Berger, Kurt Brown, and Anita Thompson reading from the work of her late husband, Hunter S. Thompson. The speakers will present their works in five-minute readings, emceed by Aspen Summer Words co-chairs Kurt Brown and Helen Kalin Klanderud.

The al-fresco, tented event is co-sponsored by Bethel Party Rentals, David Hyman, and the Aspen Historical Society. In addition to donating the use of the grounds for the party, the Aspen Historical Society will open the Wheeler/Stallard Museum doors for complimentary viewing of two new exhibits: “Crystal Memories: Fifty Years of Palace Shenanigans” and “Aspen Under Glass: Photography from 1890 – 1920”.

A selection of the Round Up authors’ books will be available for sale and signing, courtesy of Town Center Booksellers.

Seating is limited. Attendees are encouraged to bring lawn chairs and blankets.

More information on the Aspen Writers’ Foundation, Aspen Summer Words and the Local Writers Round Up is available at www.aspenwriters.org.

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