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Denver is best known for being a modern, eco-conscious city, but it’s also host to an emerging cultural scene. While the foodie, craft brew, and music scenes may come to mind first, the Mile High City also has a thriving literary culture. If you’re searching for your next page-turner, why not go local and check out some of these Denver author’s best titles?
Matthew Sullivan’s addicting mystery novel, Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore, will have book-lovers enthralled. The author grew up in suburban Denver and has won several awards, including the Florida Review Editor’s Prize and the Robert Olen Butler Fiction Prize. Published in June of 2017, Sullivan’s recent novel takes place in a bookstore in which the protagonist, Lydia, works and spends her days amongst BookFrogs (the quiet regular patrons who haunt the halls). When her favorite patron commits suicide in the upper room, she’s left to unravel the mystery through his many trinkets, possessions, and an interwoven puzzle of clues he left behind. Matthew Sullivan crafts this literary thriller based off his personal history of working at Denver’s own Tattered Cover Bookstore. For a taste of contemporary Denver writing, give this novel a read, and be prepared for many plot twists along the way.
This novel is a captivating homecoming story set in eastern Colorado. Written by Denver resident, Gregory Hill, and published in 2012, East of Denver won the Colorado Book Award. The story finds Shakespeare Williams returning home after a long departure, only to find that his family and their farm are declining. Set in the Eastern Plains, readers follow his experience of becoming a caretaker to his elderly father and the farm. When he’s faced with the prospect of losing the farm, Shakespeare hatches a plan to rob the bank that wronged his family, with his father and a band of misfits alongside him. Readers will get emotionally invested in this heartfelt journey, colored with a healthy dose of dark humor along the way.
Helen Thorpe is the Denver author of The Newcomers, a firsthand nonfiction account of a group of teenage refugees and the journey of their cultural acclimation to South High School in Denver. Thorpe has been praised for her past two award-winning books, Soldier Girls and Just Like Us. Her latest book, hot-off-the-press from November 2017, is gathering a lot of buzz as well. The Newcomers is an account of her close observations of 22 teenage immigrants over the 2015-2016 school year and their personal journeys learning English and becoming Americans. They’ve each come from different war-torn nations, some directly from refugee camps, some with family, and some alone. In a tumultuous political climate where the topic of immigration sparks a multitude of opinions, Thorpe shows a very human side to the facts. Her poignant book is a moving and transformative take on these current issues as they relate to Denver directly.
Maura Weiler’s novel, Contrition, was published in 2015 and won the Colorado Authors League award for Mainstream Fiction. This novel is a stark difference from Weiler’s past work, which involved Hollywood screenplays. Her 2015 novel delves into the story of a journalist and adoptee Dorie, who makes a couple of crucial revelations. The first is that her biological father was a very famous artist, and the second is that she has a twin with a similar inherited gift. She gets to know her twin, Candace, a cloistered nun who now goes by Sister Catherine. Although under a vow of silence, her twin shares her art with the convent. To better get to know her twin, Dorie attempts to join her convent as an aspiring nun. Overall, this story will have you questioning why an artist makes art — is it for themselves, for an audience, or even for a higher power?
Shari Caudron is a Denver writer who, in her nonfiction account, Who Are You People?, examines the variety of hobbyists in America and the subcultures that define them. Published in 2006, this book will give you an insight into the many different passions of the contemporary America. She admits that she began her observations as a cynic but underwent revelations that slowly transformed her into understanding these quirky passions along the way. Her book is an entertaining journey, and you’ll adventure alongside her through everything from storm chasers to Barbie doll fans.
Denver is home to a variety of great writers and authors producing brilliant fiction and nonfiction. Dive into the full Denver experience by picking up a book written by a local author. Whether an award-winning writer or a brand new talent, you might find yourself getting a better sense of the Mile High City and Colorado through fresh eyes.
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