A community literary series offering readings by established regional poets as well as opportunities for local poets to share their work in a supportive setting.

Presented by Ouray's Wright Opera House, the monthly event will run first Thursdays, October of this year through March, 2023 in The Tavern at the Wright, an intimate space with a fireplace and small tables. Readings by the invited Colorado region poets promise to both inspire and entertain. Some are new faces to the community and others, who have read in Ouray County, will be back by popular demand.

Featured poets will dialogue with the audience and may have books for sale and signing. Following each reading and a short intermission, audience members can read their own short works during an open mic. Poetry at the Tavern evenings will begin at 7pm with box office opening at 6pm. Beverages and small bites will be available for purchase. 

Joseph Hutchison, Colorado Poet Laureate (2014-2019), has published 20 collections, most recently Under Sleep’s New Moon, The World As Is: New & Selected Poems, 1972-2015, and Marked Men. His poems have appeared most recently in Adirondack Review, Main Street Rag, New York Quarterly, Pedestal Magazine, Poetry Salzburg Review, and THINK Journal. His work also appears in several anthologies, including New Poets of the American West and A Ritual to Read Together: Poems in Conversation with William Stafford. Joe lives in the mountains southwest of Denver with his wife, yoga instructor Melody Madonna.