In Erika Krouse’s best-selling novel, “Contenders,” Nina Black is a happy thief and street fighter until one of her marks, a Denver cop and MMA comeback contender, wants his wallet—and his dignity—back. Avoiding retribution is difficult enough alone, but it becomes impossible once Nina gets unexpected custody of an orphaned eight-year-old niece she didn’t know existed. Krouse will read from “Contenders” and discuss the challenges of writing characters who veer far from the norm.

Tickets: $10.00 ($7.00 Concert Member)
https://www.chautauqua.com/portfolio/erika-krouse-contenders-edgy-characters/
303.442.3282

About the Author:
Erika Krouse’s fiction has appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, Esquire.com, One Story, Ploughshares and other publications. Her short story collection, “Come Up and See Me Sometime,” won the Paterson Fiction Award and was a New York Times Notable Book. “Contenders” is a finalist for the VCU Cabell First Novelist Award. Krouse is on faculty for the Lighthouse Writers Workshop and the Ashland University MFA program. She lives in Boulder.

Saturday, January 14 at 1:30 & 7:30pm
Su Teatro Cultural & Performing Arts Center
721 Santa Fe Drive, Denver

Michael Bouchard, Jessica Austgen and Cajardo Lindsey perform stories by Philip Roth, Erika Krouse, David Rothman and Kevin Brockmeier

The Outsiders

Sarah Elizabeth Schantz and Erika Krouse, in conversation with Scott Haas

Loneliness, alienation and the lack of hope contribute to imbalances in psychological well-being and are often triggers for instability and mental disorders. Similarly mental disorders and emotional anguish commonly trigger great loneliness, alienation and lack of hope. In a session touching upon social alienation and mental health and their impact on people of all ages, authors Sarah Elizabeth Schantz and Erika Krouse discuss the debilitating effect of having our “injury” on the inside and the social stigmas and taboos associated with the subject. In conversation with Scott Hass.

Boulder Public Library Main Branch
1001 Arapahoe, Boulder
Steps
 

Stories on Stage, in partnership with the Jaipur Literature Festival, is pleased to perform theatrical readings from two of the participating authors, Erika Krouse and Sarah Elizabeth Schantz.  Erika is a nationally known author, and her books include “Contenders” and “Come Up and See Me Sometime.” Sarah’s debut novel, “Fig” is a Colorado Book Award winner. Excerpts from “Fig” will be performed by Kyra Lindsay, and Regina Fernandez Steffen will read “The Good Times Are Killing Me” by Erika.

Dates:

September 20th, performance by Stories On Stage at Boulder Public Library, 1001 Arapahoe Avenue, Boulder. Talk-back with Sarah Schantz [I'm teaching that night and can't make that one...:-( ] https://jaipurliteraturefestival.org/boulder/

September 22nd, performance by Stories On Stage at Park Hill Branch Library, 4705 East Montview Boulevard, Denver. Talk-back with Sarah Schantz and Erika Krouse. https://www.denverlibrary.org/sites/dplorg/files/2016/08/engage_upcoming.pdf

Even if you’re not writing a symbolic story, essay, or poem, you are a symbolic writer. You can’t help yourself. As human beings, we use clues and symbols from our real and/or fictional worlds to understand people, define value systems, explore questions, decide on plans of action, and create meaning from our experiences. In this class, we’ll explore ways to use symbolism to create richer, more evocative narrative worlds.

https://lighthousewriters.org/workshop/detail/id/1461

Maybe you’re a peaceable person, but your characters aren’t. How do you write a fight scene so it feels real? How do you keep your readers engaged, even as you're killing/bashing/bruising their darlings? In this class, we’ll explore physicality and combat in narrative, crucial elements of any good (or bad) fight, characterization through fighting, fight scene no-nos, and more.

https://lighthousewriters.org/workshop/detail/id/1466

What's the difference between a dynamic scene and a dull one? In this class, we’ll examine the elements that constitute a vibrant scene and the choices that can turn a great scene into a dead one. You’ll leave this class with a toolbox of tips and tricks to help your scenes reach their full potential.

https://lighthousewriters.org/workshop/detail/id/1417

Sometimes in the effort to avoid melodrama, we avoid good old normal drama. In this class, we'll use discussion, readings, and in-class exercises to work on your story's conflict(s) and the dramatic questions that will drive your reader to keep reading. 

https://lighthousewriters.org/workshop/detail/id/1415

Panelists: Steve Almond, Jenny Shank, Erika Krouse, Seth Brady Tucker

Attempts at comedy can bring readers and audiences together, but they can also push buttons, especially in an age where a hastily thrown-off line can become fodder for social media. How do you “write funny” without playing it too safe or tumbling off the cliff of political correctness? Panelists will discuss this as well as share a bit of their own humor writing and that of their comic inspirations.

A catered meal and beverages are included in ticket price, available starting at 5:00 PM. Panel discussion begins at 6:00 PM.   

https://lighthousewriters.org/workshop/detail/id/1471

The Rumpus and Rare Bird Present "Pick Your Poison"
Cost: $5
Event URL: https://www.facebook.com/events/1048690055189902/
The Rumpus and Rare Bird proudly present PICK YOUR POISON. With readings from Cornelius Eady, Rich Ferguson, Ashley C. Ford, Erika Krouse, Anna March, and J. Ryan Stradal. Doors open at 7 p.m., and readings will begin at 7:30 p.m. The evening will be emceed by Antonia Crane.
Contact: The Rumpus and Rare Bird
Organization: The Rumpus and Rare Bird
Organization URL:

1226 W 7th St, Los Angeles, CA 90017

R150. There and Back Again: Writing from the Road. (Erika Krouse,  Kai Carlson-Wee,  Kim Barnes,  Andrew McFadyen-Ketchum,  Maggie Shipstead) Five established and emerging writers who work in poetry, fiction, and nonfiction discuss each of their unique journeys in the world. These travels include train-hopping across the US, marches in Ferguson and Baltimore, the Amtrak Writing Residency, and the Arctic Circle Residency. Panelists address how these endeavors changed their writing in ways they did not expect, including personal research, craft development, and discoveries of larger environmental, social, and racial truths.

Room 410, LA Convention Center, Meeting Room Level

Moderator:

Andrew McFadyen-Ketchum is a poet, professional editor, and educator. He is author of a book of poetry, Ghost Gear; editor of Apocalypse Now: Poems and Prose from the End of Days; series editor of Floodgate Poetry Series; and founder and editor of PoemoftheWeek.org. Read his work at AndrewMK.com.

Erika Krouse's fiction has appeared in the New Yorker, the Atlantic, Esquire.com, Ploughshares, and One Story. Her short story collection, Come Up and See Me Sometime, won the Paterson Fiction Award, and was translated into six languages. Her novel, Contenders, was recently published.

Kai Carlson-Wee has rollerbladed professionally and traveled across the country by freight train. His work has appeared in Linebreak, Best New Poets, and the Missouri Review. A former Wallace Stegner Fellow, he is a Jones Lecturer in poetry at Stanford University.

Kim Barnes is the author of two memoirs and three novels, most recently, In the Kingdom of Men. Her work has been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize, has won the PNBA Award for Nonfiction, and has been awarded the PEN USA Award for Literary Fiction. Barnes teaches writing at the University of Idaho.

Maggie Shipstead is the author of the novels Astonish Me and Seating Arrangements, a New York Times bestseller and winner of the Dylan Thomas Prize and the L.A. Times Book Prize for First Fiction. Her short fiction has appeared in a bunch of places including The Best American Short Stories.

Join the Art Students League of Denver and Lighthouse Writers Workshop for a series of discussions about literature and art, each co-hosted by a writer and artist.

On February 18, Lighthouse instructor Erika Krouse and Bruce Price of Art Students League will talk about "The Flamethrowers," by Rachel Kushner, and Earth art.

All are welcome, including those who have not yet read the text!

Copies of all featured Art + Lit books are available to participants at a discount at the Tattered Cover Book Store on Colfax. Simply tell a Tattered Cover employee you are enrolled in a course at Lighthouse and they will direct you to where the books are shelved.

Join us at 7 pm at the so-cool Book Bar in Denver! 4280 Tennyson Street, Denver, CO 80212
720-443-2227. I hope to see you there!

http://www.bookbardenver.com/event/authors-erika-krouse-and-kathy-fish-reading-and-signing

Lucia Berlin fans, come! We'll be reading from the newly-released A Manual for Cleaning Women (Farrar, Strauss and Giroux), in tribute to our departed friend Lucia Berlin, at the Boulder Bookstore on Tuesday, Oct 13th at 7:30. Readers will be: editor Stephen Emerson, Bobbie Louise Hawkins, Jennifer Dunbar Dorn, Keith Abbott, Staci Amend, Steve Katz, Peter Michelson, Jenny Shank, and me. I only wish Lucia could be there for this.

Please join me at the historic Old Firehouse Books in Fort Collins for a reading of Contenders (the whole thing) (just kidding). Thanks, and I hope to see you there!

http://www.oldfirehousebooks.com/event/author-signing-erika-krouse

Join Delfin Vigil (author of Death of a Newspaperman: A Novel) and me as we read from our books at the West's oldest independent bookseller, Books, Inc. at 601 Van Ness, San Francisco, CA 415.776.1111.

Please join me at the Chevalier's Books Reading Series, hosted by poet Rich Ferguson. I hope to see you there! http://chevaliersbooks.com/

126 N. Larchmont Blvd., Los Angeles CA 90004

Please join me at The Last Bookstore, where I'll read from Contenders, do a little in-conversation thing, and then my publisher Rare Bird will throw a party! Beer, wine, and books.

453 S Spring St, Los Angeles, CA 90013

Join me as I read alongside such badasses as Benjamin Whitmer (Cry Father) and Laird Hunt (Neverhome), and such reality hunger artists as Gail Waldstein (To Quit this Calling), and Pamela Ribon (Notes to Boys). I hope they don't beat me up.

Lighthouse Lit Fest Speakeasy Tent, 1515 Race Street, Denver, CO (free event)

Join novelist Heidi Pitlor (The Daylight Marriage) and me as we read from our novels at The Tattered Cover, 2526 East Colfax Avenue, Denver, CO. Then we'll tell you all the writing secrets.