A Writer's Guide to Denver: Libraries, Bookstores, Writing Groups, and Presses

The Central Library holds DPL's Special Collections and Archives, Western history and historic photographs among them. The reading room is open daily. Arrive well before closing, since staff stop pulling archival material 45 minutes ahead. Study rooms can be booked online up to a week out.

Blair-Caldwell is Denver Public Library's research library for African American history. Its archives include a growing collection on the Buffalo Soldiers in Colorado, and a museum occupies the third floor. Research sessions are by appointment.

The Denver Zine Library keeps more than 20,000 independent and alternative zines inside DPL's Bob Ragland Branch at ArtPark. It opens to the public on Saturdays, and by appointment otherwise. The library also organizes the Denver Zine Fest.

DU's Special Collections hold the Beck Archives of Rocky Mountain Jewish History and a collection of fine press and artists' books. Community researchers are welcome. Campus buildings require a DU ID, though, so email archives@du.edu to schedule a visit first.

Auraria Library serves CU Denver, MSU Denver, and Community College of Denver from one downtown building. It is a Federal Depository Library with Special and Digital Collections, and it closes Saturdays.

Nursing and public health writers should know Strauss, the health sciences library at CU Anschutz. Badge holders can get in around the clock. The service desk keeps daytime hours.

Hermitage calls itself Denver's oldest independent bookstore. It sells used, rare, and antiquarian books alongside general fiction and nonfiction, and it closes Sundays.

West Side Books sells new books in West Highland and runs a book club. Authors read in the store, and it is open daily.

Kilgore has sold used and new books and comics on Capitol Hill since 2008, and it publishes independent comics too. Something happens every week, from author signings and cartoonist talks to workshops and book parties.

The owner of Little Blue Pigeon asked customers to help pick its stock, and 5280 reports that CU Denver students chose titles for the manga section. The shop holds monthly events, and authors can inquire about one through its website. It closes Mondays.

Capitol Hill Books has long sold and traded secondhand books on East Colfax, rare editions among them. You can search its stock online before you go.

About 15 booksellers run Printed Page as a co-op in a Victorian house on South Broadway. The shop belongs to the Rocky Mountain Antiquarian Booksellers Association and stocks collectible first editions. According to 5280, it also teaches free book-collecting classes.

Lighthouse members get member-only writing hours on weekdays and the monthly Friday 500 gathering. University students, teachers, and seniors pay a discounted membership rate.

Hooked on Colfax is open daily. Denverite describes a dim, cave-like basement away from the Colfax traffic and upstairs booths big enough for several laptops. The coffeehouse also has a community space you can reserve.

The Bardo calls itself Denver's late-night coffee house and stays open late every night. Denverite mentions patio and booth seating. Wi-Fi time is limited, so download what you need before you settle in.

Corvus roasts its coffee in Denver, and its South Broadway café opens early every day. The company has two more Denver cafés, in Uptown and RiNo.

My Brother's Bar has served beer and spirits since 1873, and 5280 calls it Denver's oldest bar. It was a hangout for Neal Cassady, Jack Kerouac's muse for On the Road, who allegedly never paid his final tab here back when the place was Paul's Place. The kitchen serves burgers daily, with brunch on weekends.

Dazzle is a jazz club and restaurant with shows seven nights a week. Come for the Sunday jazz brunch.

The Ponti is the Denver Art Museum's restaurant, in the Sie Welcome Center next door to the Central Library. Its menu is seasonal and locally sourced. You don't need a museum ticket to eat there.

Lighthouse teaches workshops in fiction, nonfiction and memoir, poetry, and play and screenwriting. Mentorship programs such as the Poetry Collective and Portfolio Year give writers longer guidance. It also runs Lit Fest and Weekend Fests and hosts writing communities, among them Writing in Color and Queer Creatives. Financial assistance is available.

Colorado Humanities runs the state Center for the Book, which presents the Colorado Book Awards. The Center's Author Talks program sends local authors to schools and cultural centers.

Barnes & Noble owns Tattered Cover, which keeps an author events calendar and runs book clubs. Its Denver stores are on East Colfax and at Union Station, and there are two more in Littleton and Aurora.

DU faculty can get Writing Across the Curriculum support, from an informal consultation to an extended workshop. The program also runs Writing Accountability Groups, and the Writing Center takes appointments from faculty and staff.

CU Boulder humanities and arts faculty can apply for a Faculty Fellowship, which brings a one-semester teaching reduction and a cohort of colleagues. Small grants support research and creative work by faculty and staff. Scholars working in Great Britain can stay at the Hazel Barnes Flat in London.

Colorado Humanities runs Community Conversations, a facilitation and training program. Its history programs include Chautauqua festivals, which mix theater and history, and Black History Live, a tour each February.

The University Press of Colorado publishes 40 to 45 new scholarly titles a year under four imprints, Utah State University Press and University of Alaska Press among them. Its list runs from history and anthropology to folklore.

Counterpath has published more than 100 titles and has run an exhibition and event space in Denver since late 2010. The Nafas Reading Series meets there. It also keeps a free bookstore, open Saturdays.

The Journal of Nursing Education publishes original articles and new ideas for nurse educators, with a focus on curriculum development and research. Its editor, Amy J. Barton, is at the University of Colorado Anschutz College of Nursing. Preparing an article for the Journal of Nursing Education

Psychotherapy is the APA journal of the Society for the Advancement of Psychotherapy. It publishes empirically supported work on the science and practice of psychotherapy. Its editor, Jesse Owen, is at the University of Denver. Preparing an article for Psychotherapy

The Council on Social Work Education's refereed journal covers trends, innovations, and problems in social work education, from undergraduate through postgraduate levels. Editor-in-chief Michele D. Hanna is at the University of Denver Graduate School of Social Work. Preparing an article for the Journal of Social Work Education

The Colorado Center for the Book gives these awards to Colorado authors, editors, illustrators, and photographers.

The governor appoints Colorado's poet laureate, and the Center for the Book runs the program.

The Center for Literary Publishing at Colorado State, which publishes Colorado Review, awards this annual prize for a book-length poetry manuscript. The Center publishes the winning book, and the University Press of Colorado distributes it.

The Book Project is Lighthouse's two-year program for writers finishing a novel, memoir, story collection, or narrative nonfiction book. Admission is by application. Each writer works with a mentor, and an in-house publishing expert advises on taking the finished book to market. You can join virtually.

Boulder's Office of Arts + Culture funds individual artists through Boulder Vision project grants and a Professional Development Fund that has paid for conferences, workshops, and residencies. Writers and poets have been among the recipients.

University of Denver students can find grants and writing resources on this page.

Regis University students have the same kind of guide.

Colorado Christian University students have a page of their own.

Denver Bookbinding has bound books since 1929, and the fifth generation of the family runs it now. Thesis and magazine binding are on its list, along with book restoration and custom hand binding. Visits are by appointment.

Rick Griffith and Debra Johnson run MATTER, a design consultancy founded with printing presses. Its bookshop is open daily.