CSU-Pueblo SOCO Reading series offers first event of spring

PUEBLO – Colorado State University-Pueblo will host authors Idris Goodwin and Nico Wilkinson in celebration of Black History Month and the release of the new limited-edition chapbook, The Inauguration, at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 15 in General Classroom Building 213 as part of the Southern Colorado Reading Series. Refreshments will be provided, and the authors’ book will be on sale. The event is made possible with the support of the Black Student Union, Department of English and Foreign Languages, and Student Engagement and Leadership.  

Students also are invited to sign up for the open mic portion of the program and be prepared to read one piece for three minutes before the featured readers.

Goodwin is an award-winning playwright, poet and essayist. He is the author of the pushcart nominated collection These Are The Breaks. He’s performed poetry on HBO, Sesame Street, and Discovery Channel. Goodwin’s work is featured in The Break Beat Poets and Spoken Word Revolution anthologies, in addition to numerous literary journals. His widely produced stage-plays include: How We Got On, This Is Modern Art co-written with Kevin Coval, And In This Corner: Cassius Clay, Hands Up and Bars and Measures. He’s received support from the NEA and Ford Foundation, and awarded Oregon Shakespeare’s American History Cycle Commission, The Blue Ink Playwriting Award and InterAct Theater’s 20/20 Prize. Idris is an assistant professor in The Department of Theatre and Dance at Colorado College. Find him at www.idrisgoodwin.com

Wilkenson is a spoken word poet and organizer in Colorado Springs. In 2015, Goodwin and Wilkinson were the Grand Slam Champion of Colorado Springs and represented the city at the National Poetry Slam in Oakland. In 2016, Nico released “good morning cruel world,” their first album. They host “Keep Colorado Springs Queer,” a monthly open mic, and they write for “Queer & There,” a weekly column in the Colorado Springs Independent. Their work has been published in Rust+ Moth, Voicemail Poems, and Cactus Heart. Find them at www.nicowilkinson.com

For more information, contact Juan J. Morales, assistant professor and director of creative writing at 719.549.2082 or juan.morales@csupueblo.edu.