History

ABOUT THE FESTIVAL

The Rocky Mountain Writers' Festival officially began in the 1990s. Will Peterson, owner of the Walrus & Carpenter bookstore in Pocatello, developed the festival as a means for providing regional writers with a place to read their own material.

However, the festival can be traced back to the early 1980s, when a group of writers met at the historic Standrod Mansion, unofficially marking the festival's true beginning. Over the years the festival has grown from a single evening to a week of events, from one location to several locations throughout Pocatello. And the list of participants has grown as well: Margaret Aho, Bruce Embree, Janne Goldbeck, Will Peterson, Steve Puglisi, Kim Stafford, Ford Swetnam, Susan Swetnam, Marty Vest, and Harald Wyndham (to name only a few) have all read at past festivals. In recent years the festival has opened its doors to neighboring states. Utah poets Ken Brewer, Michael Sowder, and Jennifer Tonge have made the trek across the border to participate, while writers from Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming have all participated in the annual festival.

In 2007, newly appointed directors Greg Nicholl and Bethany Schultz increased festival visibility through grants that allowed them to bring in award-winning author Judy Doenges and Jonathan Johnson to open and close the festival. They also introduced a new web presence and professionally designed posters to help promote the events.

Although the festival continues to grow and change with each new year, the integrity of the original festival remains: writers from the Rocky Mountains getting together as one community to share their work and celebrate the written word together.

Updated 02/22/07