What brought approximately 40,000 people to the third annual Rocky Mountain Book Festival at Denver's convention center on Oct. 13-14?
The answers include:
Denver Bronco Reggie Rivers, the honorary festival chairman and speaker; a Brain Quest Challenge for 7,500 schoolchildren from 30 Denver-area schools; cooking demonstrations; talks, readings and panel presentations by more than 20 authors, including Tony Hillerman, Barbara Kingsolver, Linda Hogan, Robert Massie, Ian Frazier, Peggy Orenstein, Jack Gantos, Clarissa Pinkola Estes, John Dunning and Russell Means; book arts demonstrations; a Literary Chautauqua Tent, where, through separate one-hour presentations, visitors could listen to and question impersonators of Gertrude Stein, James Joyce, Anne Sexton, Geoffrey Chaucer, Jack London or a pensive and troubled F. Scott Fitzgerald.
There were also poetry and prose readings from the winners of the 1995 Colorado Book Awards and the 1995 Western States Book Awards; a celebrity book auction; continuous storytelling, music and puppetry on a children's stage; book sales and autographing sessions; a "bibliotherapy" booth; and 102 scheduled programs and panel discussions, ranging from "What is This Thing Called Love? An Overview of the Romance Genre," one of 10 presentations at 9 a.m. on Oct. 13, to "The Role of the Editor," one of two concluding programs at 4 p.m. on Oct. 14.
"We were thrilled by the turnout and by the enthusiasm of participants, festival-goers, exhibitors and our many volunteers," said Kimberly Taylor, executive director of the Colorado Center for the Book, the festival's principal sponsor. "And we are especially grateful to our major cooperating sponsors: Rocky Mountain News, the Colorado State Library, NEWS 4 Colorado, The Bloomsbury Review, HarperCollins Publishers, the Colorado Endowment for the Humanities, Microsoft and the Ingram Book Co."
In addition to cooperating sponsors and publishers, the festival's 71 exhibitors included the Tattered Cover Book Store, many writers groups and the newly established Wyoming Center for the Book. With The Bloomsbury Review, the Wyoming center promoted the panel discussion, "Wyoming Literature, Past and Present," which featured six members of Wyoming Writers Inc.
Center for the Book Director John Y. Cole participated in the panel discussion on "Funding for Literature" and introduced speakers Tony Hillerman and Robert Massie, who have appeared in previously at Center for the Book programs in Washington, D.C.
An updated edition of The Colorado Book Guide: A Directory of the Colorado Book Community was released during the festival. The 140-page book, a directory of resources for people who work with books, includes brief listings for agents, book arts organizations, book fairs and festivals, bookbinders, bookstores, distributors, libraries, literacy programs and coalitions, newspapers, publishers, writing and book associations and book- related service organizations. Copies are available for $9.95 from The Bloomsbury Review, 1762 Emerson St., Denver, CO 80218- 1012; telephone (303) 863-0406.
Also during the festival, the Colorado Center for the Book raised funds for its purchase of the Denver home of Thomas Hornsby Ferril (1896-1988), the poet laureate of Colorado, which will become a literary center and the center's new home. The Fourth Annual Rocky Mountain Book Festival will be held Oct. 5 and 6, 1996, and beginning in 1997, the center will sponsor a Rocky Mountain Children's Book Festival. For information about the center and its activities, write or call the Colorado Center for the Book, 1301 Arapahoe St., Suite 3, Golden, CO 80401; (303) 273-5933.
Cultural Forum of the States Meets at LC. On Oct. 16 the Center for the Book hosted the semiannual meeting of the Cultural Forum of the States, an informal alliance of state cultural officers that is committed "to making known to state and national leaders the breadth, depth and diversity of cultural activity in the states" and "to increasing the responsiveness of state governments to the cultural needs of all citizens."
Representatives from 10 states and several federal cultural agencies participated in the all-day program, which focused on "The Role of Culture in the Economic Environment," particularly the relationship between culture and tourism.
The luncheon speaker, Terry Smith Labat of the U.S. Travel and Tourism Administation, pointed out ties among tourism, economic development and the arts, and noted that "too often culture's contribution to tourism is not appreciated." She also discussed the forthcoming White House Conference on Travel and Tourism and the possible significance of the conference for tourism policy at both the federal and the state levels.
Other discussion topics included: long-range cultural planning in several states; book fairs and festivals as cultural and economic attractions; North Carolina's "Handmade in USA" campaign; Iowa's Governor's Cultural Coalition; "homecoming" tourist campaigns in several states; and orchestrating cultural tourism around family reunions.
Also under discussion were: the benefits and drawbacks of legalized gambling on cultural promotion; advocacy strategies and their importance in view of funding cuts; the increasing popularity of established "heritage areas"; partnerships with performing arts agencies; the concept of strategic place marketing in assessing cultural assests; the advantage of using the word "guest" instead of "tourist"; the promotion of "authentic industries" and historic sites; using new technologies to promote cultural activities; the "Kentucky Crafted" campaign; and the need to publicize the notion that cultural agencies "deliver" the products that tourist offices promote.
Dr. Cole briefly discussed cultural projects that linked the Library of Congress to the various states, particularly programs of the American Folklife Center and those of the Center for the Book, which has 30 affiliated state centers. He described the Montana Heritage project and state center projects such as Florida's literary map and its program of commemorating Florida literary landmarks.
This meeting of the Cultural Forum of the States was convened by William H. Drennen Jr., director of the West Virginia Department of Culture and History, and William H. Jackson, director of the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs. A third organizer, Van McLeod, commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Cultural Affairs, was unable to attend.
Other participants in the meeting were: Alicia Adams, the Kennedy Center; Jody Albright, Office of Special Projects, Maryland; Johanna Misey Boyer, National Assembly of State Arts Agencies; Betsy Buford, Deptartment of Cultural Resources, North Carolina; and Cynthia Brower, Office of Special Projects, Maryland.
Kathryn Murphy Burke, Wisconsin Arts Board; Miriam Crawford, Community Relations, Corporation for Public Broadcasting; Louis DeLuca, Kentucky Arts Council; Shelly Feist, the Kennedy Center; Diane Frankel, Institute of Museum Services; Greg Franklin, Department of Cultural Affairs, New Hampshire; Jonathan Katz, National Assembly of State Arts Agencies; and Dean Kenderdine, Department of Business and Economic Development, Maryland.
Bev Lindsey, Department of Heritage, Arkansas; Betty Ray McCain, Department of Cultural Resources, North Carolina; Nancy Miller, National Conference of State Historic Preservation Agencies; Karyl Denison Robb, Cultural Resources, Wyoming; and Barbara Fulton Russon, New Jersey State Council on the Arts.
