Feature: The Gathering Place, Thursday, April 20, 2017
On Thursday, April 20, 2017, at 7 p.m. Counterpath (7935 East 14th Ave.) is excited to feature The Gathering Place, Denver’s only daytime drop-in center for women, children, and transgender individuals who are experiencing poverty or homelessness. Located at 1535 High St., The Gathering Place (tgpdenver.org) provides a wide range of services and programs that meet basic needs, encourage personal growth, and build community. This evening will feature The Gathering Place’s program in writing, with readings by Malinda Detweiler, Elizabeth Vonaarons, and Fran Ford. The event is sponsored by the University of Denver’s Community Writing Centers and presented by Sarah Boyer.
Malinda Detweiler: My name is Malinda Detweiler. I was born October 31, 1974 at midnight in Trenton Missouri and grew up inside an Amish community in Jamesport Missouri, until I was twenty years old. At the age of twenty I left the Amish, having lost interest in their religion. Since that time, I have had one daughter. She is nineteen and ready for college. I have four older brothers and five sisters. We went to a small one room school two miles from our house. There was an old dirt road that led to the school. For many years, my older brothers and sisters taught school. I was greatly influenced by them. My older sisters taught me how to draw when I was a young child, and I’ve been drawing ever since. Today, I have become serious with my writing and illustrating.
Elizabeth Vonaarons: Elizabeth grew up in a small town in Wisconsin. Inspired by adventure stories, such as Jules Verne’s “20 Thousand leagues Under the Sea,” she began writing at an early age. She first started writing poetry when she moved into the Robert Browning Building on historic Poets Row. Several of her poems, such as “How do I Know I live on Capitol Hill”, have been published. Elizabeth has written a children’s story, several screenplays, and short plays and is presently working on a full length play, “No More Money for You”, and two screenplays, “Flanagan’s Mansion”, a horror story, and “The Chauffer”, a romantic comedy. She presently is enrolled in online classes in the graduate program for Motion Pictures and Television with the Academy of Art University in San Francisco.
Fran Ford: Fran Ford has been writing poetry since the age of 19. Fran has lived in Denver for 30 years
Sarah Boyer holds a PhD in poetry from the University of Denver and her first book of poems, Howard, appeared last year. She lives in Denver with her partner Phil and her dog Oyster. She has worked at The Gathering Place as a writing consultant for the past 4 years.