Please join Colorado Humanities & Center for the Book for conversations about the experience of war and coming home again at two Denver libraries this spring: Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzales Branch Library, 1498 Irving Street, Denver, 80204, on March 3, 10, & 17, 2019 from 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., and Ford-Warren Branch Library, 2825 High Street, Denver, 80205 on March 7, 14, & 21, 2019 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. In 2018, in collaboration with the Denver Veterans Writers Workshop, Colorado Humanities & Center for the Book collected creative writing by Denver-area writers and published the anthology Still Coming Home: Denver Veterans Writing, which will be used as a shared text to foster conversation. Talk with the authors and other community members about their experience of war and challenges since returning to civilian life in this facilitated conversation series. This series of three conversations builds on themes and is meant to be a deeper experience for those who attend all three, but participants are also welcome to attend one or two. Copies of the anthology will be provided. To learn more, visit coloradohumanities.org or call 303.894.7951.
Under the leadership of former Chairman William Adams, a Vietnam veteran and a philosophy scholar, the National Endowment for the Humanities issued a call to the state humanities councils “to explore the experience of war through the lens of the humanities” through an initiative called “Standing Together.” We asked Colorado veterans how we could help them and they let us know that the greatest avoidable difficulty is an inability to ever “come home” from conflict. We were ready to say “yes” when veterans Jason Arment and Steven Dunn asked for help starting Denver Veterans Writing Workshop in 2016. These ideas and aspirations came together as Colorado Humanities was awarded an Arts in Society grant, funded by Bonfils-Stanton Foundation, Colorado Creative Industries, and Hemera Foundation, and in partnership with RedLine Contemporary Art Center through their Arts in Society Program.
Colorado Humanities is the only Colorado organization exclusively dedicated to supporting humanities education for adults and children statewide. Celebrating its 45th year and its 15th year as host for the Colorado Center for the Book, Colorado Humanities is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit affiliated with the National Endowment for the Humanities, The Library of Congress Center for the Book, the Smithsonian Institution, and the national award-winning educational nonprofit Motheread, Inc. With offices in the Denver Technological Center in Greenwood Village, Colorado Humanities works with 150 program partners throughout the state to design and implement educational programs that best meet each community’s needs. Colorado Humanities’ goals are to improve education, strengthen cultural institutions, and enrich community life by inspiring the people of Colorado to explore ideas and appreciate our diverse heritage.