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“I’m lucky to have good mentors,” wrote American Alpine Club member Joanna Spindler MountainProject.com“Currently enjoying year-round climbing in and around Telluride.”
“It’s heaven,” she said.
Substitute literature and poetry for climbing, and—a decade on—the same words pretty much describe Spindler’s professional and creative and athletic experience in Box Canyon. Elected to serve a two-year term as San Miguel County Poet Laureate in January, her job is to be a voice for the community, and to give voice to others.
“Especially when it comes to being an awardee, there’s an emphasis on being part of the community and being responsive to the needs of the community,” Spindler said. “My duty is through the microphone.”
She has been doing this for the past year as host of the monthly Bardic Trails Zoom poetry series, most recently on Tuesday nights.
“Trails” is one of two shows under the Talking Gourds, a poetry series by the Telluride Institute co-founded by Art Goodtimes and Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer. The Gourds in-person gathering, dubbed the “Walking, Talking Hulu,” has resumed for the summer. There will be an event at the Transfer Warehouse on July 7th at 5:30pm featuring guests Peter Waldor and Lisa Flowers.
Spindler is usually the mic passer on Tuesday’s Zoom series. This time, however, she’s a guest reader, “so my dear friend and collaborator Art Goodtimes is taking over hosting,” she said. “We’ll be handing hats back and forth. Bardic Trails are a great way to connect with poets,” she added. road. “Although it started as a response to times when we couldn’t get together, it continues to allow us to bring award-winning poets from across the state and the country here. This summer, we also hosted an in-person poetry-writing event at the Transfer Warehouse— —This is a special place for our community.”
Ask Spindler if she plans to write a book of poetry, or (even) a website where people might go to read more of her work, and she says no (you just have to tune in on Tuesday night).
“I have several poems published online on my San Miguel County page featuring award-winning poets past and present,” she said. “Right now, I’m focusing on a lot of in-person and in-person events.”
You just have to listen to her reading on Tuesday night. Or, as long as your eyes (and ears) are open: Spindler’s poetic presence is almost everywhere, especially these days. She has performed at the Telluride Mushroom Festival, Summer Variety and Norwood Uniforms. She recently spontaneously wrote poetry during the Telluride Bluegrass Festival.
“Planet Bluegrass asked me to do a live reading,” she recalls. Spindler set up a booth with a sign that read “The Poet is Coming.” “People would come to me, and after a moment of connection — from that visceral space — I would write a poem for them to keep. I knew it was going to be a challenge.”
This format gives Spindler almost zero chance of editing her text, the same way she edits beautiful work. “It’s a great poetic exercise,” she said. “It taught me a lot about how to pay attention and focus on the audience you’re writing to.”
This fall, she looks forward to furthering the community by hosting poetry writing workshops for youth. “As soon as the kids go back to school, I’ll push it out,” she said. “I think children have the most authentic poetic voice. It’s easy to assume that a poem needs to have a certain rhythm or structure. In fact, it doesn’t need that. For children, you can say, ‘It doesn’t have to rhyme and it doesn’t have to have Rhythm. “It’s important to affirm that poetry is a big thing, but it’s about expression and resonance. It’s your heart that counts.”
and pick up the microphone.
Talking Gourds’ Bardic Trails Poetry Reading Series, accessed online Tuesday at 7pm with guest Joanna Spindler telluridelibrary.org/events Link. On Thursday, Talking Hulu will introduce poets Peter Waldo and Lisa Flowers at the Transit Depot at 5:30 p.m.To learn more about Talking Hulu’s program, visit tellurideinstitute.org.
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