Some poets write toward the page. Aspen Everett writes toward the world, toward the land, the water, the community, and the ongoing, unfinished work of paying attention. On Tuesday, May 19, GuloGulo is honored to welcome Aspen as our featured poet for the third Tuesday Open Mic, part of our Journey of the Poem.
About Aspen
Aspen Everett is a poet, editor, and organizer rooted in the Front Range literary community, with a presence stretching from Boulder to Fort Collins and across the wider Colorado poetry landscape. Their debut collection, Tributaries, released in 2024, is a love letter to an unlovable landscape, a work that reaches toward reconnection with the More-than-Human world, using water as its guiding thread and conduit.
Beyond the page, Aspen serves as Assistant Editor for Screaming at America, hosts and curates Spotlight: A Boulder Notoriety Show, teaches workshops at Lighthouse Writers, and is a lead organizer with the Artist Resistance Coalition. They also participate at Writer’s Block, a weekly writing group that meets every Wednesday at Mi Chantli in Boulder. A full-time single parent and tireless advocate for the creative community, Aspen brings to everything they do a philosophy of creative reciprocity: the belief that when one poet succeeds, the whole community rises.
May 19 marks the one-year anniversary of Tributaries, and this feature will serve as something Aspen never quite had: an official celebration of that book’s arrival in the world.
Q&A with Aspen
GuloGulo: Why are you looking forward to being the GuloGulo featured poet?
Aspen: It is my belief that art, especially poetry, does not happen in isolation as we’ve been led to believe, but within community. Some of the best writing I’ve ever done came out of peer-led workshops and writing groups. I’m a bit of an outsider to the GuloGulo Collective, but even during my occasional “guest appearances” at the open mics and other events, I’ve experienced the strong community bond of this vehement collective. I want to feature in order to give back to this community. It’s also my hope to help bridge the gap between FoCo and Boulder communities. We have a lot to share with one another, and if I can continue to facilitate this connection, I will.
GuloGulo: What about your specific writing process are you most curious to share with the community through your upcoming workshop or performance?
Aspen: My upcoming feature in May will actually coincide with my one year anniversary of the release of my first book, Tributaries. Somehow, I never actually had an official launch for this book, so for this feature I’m planning to highlight some of the work from this collection. Tributaries is a love letter to an unlovable landscape, and seeks to reconnect civilization with the More-than-Human, using water as the conduit. For the workshop, I plan to focus on landscape poetry, or writing using the language of landscapes. This is done first by noticing the land around us and by offering (re)connection through our writing. Of course, the act of creating art is itself a political act, and I will not be shying away from speaking out against current events. Ultimately, it’s our job as poets to pay attention, be it to the changing of the seasons, the violence in our streets, the prevailing genocide in Palestine, or the needless wars that we’ve started and abated.
GuloGulo: As an artist and editor with a presence in Boulder, Fort Collins, and along the Front Range, how do you protect your personal and creative spaces? What advice do you have for other community poets balancing life’s demands with their art?
Aspen: I’m still learning. I’m at a place with my creative practice at the moment where I’m more focused on what I’m calling administrative tasks. I’m currently the Assistant Editor for Screaming at America, host and curator of Spotlight: A Boulder Notoriety Show, a workshop instructor at Lighthouse Writers, and a lead organizer with the Artist Resistance Coalition, among many other creative endeavors. On top of all that, I’m a full-time single parent, and I still need to earn a living. Turns out poetry doesn’t pay as much as we’d hoped (who knew?) How do I find time to continue to create? I carry a pocket notebook with me everywhere. I take the time to jot things down as they come to me. I also set aside the time to return to these notes. I participate in writing workshops and frequent our weekly writing group, Writer’s Block, which meets every Wednesday at Mi Chantli. I also understand that everything has a season, including writing. We may not always be consistently generating New Shit, and that’s okay. Even when we’re not writing, we’re still germinating, still taking in new ideas and experiences. We’re still living a life worth writing down. Don’t give yourself too much pressure to create. Just make sure you’re creating space for the muse to come to you. And keep paying attention. We’re surrounded by poems, waiting to be written.
GuloGulo: How do you use the spoken word to create a mythical or almost spiritual space for the listeners?
Aspen: I’m glad you asked this question. I used to refer to my work as Heathen Mythology. I think it’s important for writers to remember that we are making modern myths, and to remember that poetry is an oral tradition. It is my belief that your poem should live off-the-page as much as it lives on it. The poem takes on a life of its own when it is spoken aloud. Which means, your performance matters. Read as if you are on a stage, no matter who’s listening. And this requires believing in your poem and your voice. Ada Limón tells this story about hearing music once and not knowing where it was coming from, only to realize that the “music” was a poem inside of her, begging to be heard. Joy Harjo believes every poem is a song, or prayer. By paying attention to the musicality of our words, we can create a spiritual space for the listener and reader.
GuloGulo: Is there a mantra or incantation that you would share with your own inner artist as you step into this month as our featured poet?
Aspen: My mantra is momentum. The more I put myself out there, the more opportunities come to me. I’ve made a busy life for myself lately, and I love it. I’ve been blessed with an expansive and intimate poetry community. It’s important to give back, to practice creative reciprocity. One thing I’ve always enjoyed about this community in particular is a lack of competition. When one succeeds, we all succeed. I can only write the poems I can write and perform only as I can perform. There are many, many poets better than me, and many I aspire to be more like. I hope in turn I can inspire others, and if that’s all that comes out of this feature, it was well worth it.
Join Us: May 19 at Wolverine Farm
Please join us for the workshop, open mic, and a featured set by Aspen, who is a GuloGulo outsider no more! The evening is part of GuloGulo’s signature program, the Journey of the Poem, our weekly rotation designed to move a writer’s work from initial spark to public performance. The third Tuesday is our Open Mic night, and it’s one of the most alive evenings in Fort Collins poetry.
Here’s how the night will unfold:
4:00 PM – Aspen will lead a workshop inspired by their work. Come ready to write!
6:00 PM – Open Mic with Featured Middle Set by Aspen Everett – Hosted by Thomas!
The open mic is free and open to all. Bring poems. Take the stage. Performances are limited to 5 minutes, and we ask that poets with sensitive content offer a brief content note before beginning.
Both events take place at Wolverine Farm Publick House, 516 N. College Ave. in downtown Fort Collins. Free and open to the public. Come for the poems. Stay for the community. And if you’ve been meaning to make it to a Tuesday, this is the one.
