24th Annual Aspen Winter Words
Continuing their legacy of encouraging writers, inspiring readers, and connecting through stories, Aspen Writers' Foundation presents a virtual edition of Aspen Winter Words.
The 24th annual Winter Words series brings six top authors and poets (virtually) to Aspen during the winter season to engage the literary community with in-depth discussions, fresh ideas, and new perspectives.
From nonfiction that examines some of America’s most urgent social issues to fiction that reimagines the life of a famous U.S. politician to poetry that contemplates the wonders of being alive, this season promises to inspire readers and provide new insights into our time.
The virtual events will be held from November through April. Tickets are $10 for individual tickets. Series passes for 2020-21 are $275.
Jan. 13, 2020 from 6 p.m. - 7 p.m. MST:
Ayad Akhtar in conversation with Ron Charles of the Wall Street Journal
Ayad Akhtar is a novelist and playwright. His work has been published and performed in over two dozen languages. He is the winner of numerous awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and an Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Akhtar is the author of "American Dervish," published in over 20 languages and named a Kirkus Reviews Best Book of 2012. As a playwright, he has written “Junk," "Disgraced,” “The Who & The What,” and “The Invisible Hand.” As a screenwriter, he was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Best Screenplay for “The War Within.” His new novel is called "Homeland Elegies."
Ron Charles is a book critic at The Washington Post.
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April 13, 2021 from 12 p.m. - 1 p.m. MST:
Billy Collins in conversation with poet and theologian Pádraig Ó Tuama
Billy Collins is the author of many collections of poetry, most recently "Whale Day." A former Distinguished Professor at Lehman College of the City University of New York, Collins served as Poet Laureate of the United States from 2001 to 2003 and as New York State Poet from 2004 to 2006. In 2016 he was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He lives in Florida with his wife Suzannah.
Pádraig Ó Tuama is a poet and theologean whose work centres around themes of language, power, conflict and religion. Working fluently on the page and in public, Pádraig is a compelling poet and skilled speaker, teacher and group worker. Pádraig presents Poetry Unbound with On Being Studios and in late 2019 was named Theologian in Residence for On Being, innovating in bringing art and theology into public and civic life.
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Nov. 17, 2020 from 6 p.m. - 7 p.m. MST:
Isabel Wilkerson in conversation with Elizabeth Alexander poet, essayist, playwright, & the president of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
Isabel Wilkerson, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Humanities Medal, has become a leading figure in narrative nonfiction, an interpreter of the human condition, and an impassioned voice for demonstrating how history can help us understand ourselves, our country, and our current era of upheaval. Waterstone, the venerable U.K. bookseller, calls her new book,"Caste" an expansive, lyrical and stirring account of the unspoken system of divisions that govern our world.
Elizabeth Alexander is a poet, educator, memoirist, scholar, cultural advocate and president of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the nation’s largest funder in arts, culture and humanities in higher education. With more than two decades of experience leading innovative programs in education, philanthropy, and beyond, Dr. Alexander builds partnerships at Mellon to support the arts and humanities while strengthening educational institutions and cultural organizations across the world.
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Dec. 15, 2020 from 6 p.m. - 7 p.m. MST:
Curtis Sittenfeld in conversation with activist and writer Charlotte Clymer
Curtis Sittenfeld is the bestselling author of seven novels: “Prep,” “The Man of My Dreams,” “American Wife,” “Sisterland,” “Eligible,” and “Rodham.” Her first story collection, “You Think It, I’ll Say It,” was published in 2018 and picked for Reese Witherspoon’s Book Club. Her books have been selected by The New York Times, Time, Entertainment Weekly, and People for their “Ten Best Books of the Year” lists, optioned for television and film, and translated into 30 languages. Her short stories have appeared in The New Yorker, The Washington Post, and Esquire, and in the Best American Short Stories anthology, of which she is the 2020 guest editor. Her non-fiction has appeared in The New York Times, Time, Vanity Fair, The Atlantic, Slate, and on “This American Life.”
Charlotte Clymer is an activist, writer and the former press secretary for rapid response at the Human Rights Campaign, an American LGBTQ civil rights organization.