Online literary magazine features Colorado books, authors | Arts & Entertainment

Books and authors still matter in this age of digital technology and AI.

And one lover of words, former Colorado Springs journalist Kathryn Eastburn, wants to make sure Colorado’s booming literary scene is well supported. Her new Rocky Mountain Reader is a free, online literary arts magazine devoted to promoting Colorado’s literary landscape and the value of reading, and to help mitigate the disappearing coverage of books and authors in traditional media, such as newspapers. The site launched this month. Find it at rockymountainreader.org.

“Publishing and books and reading are in such great flux,” Eastburn said. “I welcome e-books, audio books, physical books, any kind of book, but I want to honor the literary tradition and honor authors who offer a whole lot to humanity and to our democracy.”

Eastburn comes to the new project with plenty of experience. She co-founded the Colorado Springs Independent in 1993 and worked there on and off for about 15 years as an editor and columnist; wrote a column for KRCC public radio station; and wrote two nonfiction books before leaving the state in 2016.

After spending the last seven years working as a reporter at daily newspapers in Mississippi and Texas, she moved back to the Springs last year.

While she was away she stumbled on the inspiration for Rocky Mountain Reader — Chapter 16, another online literary magazine covering books, authors and related events in Tennessee. It was created by bestselling essayist and New York Times writer Margaret Renkl, who foresaw the disappearance of book and author coverage from newspapers as they shrank and became more corporately consolidated.

After returning to Colorado, Eastburn submitted a proposal for Rocky Mountain Reader to Colorado Humanities, a nonprofit that supports arts and culture endeavors across the state. The organization agreed to be a fiscal sponsor, which means the nonprofit magazine will operate under Colorado Humanities’ 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status and receive help with administrative tasks and financial transactions.

Since the beginning of the year, Eastburn has sought grants and donations as well as content and freelance writers.

“Colorado is a hotbed,” she said. “There’s a tremendous literary community here and authors who choose to live here either to teach or enjoy what we all enjoy about Colorado. There’s no lack of material. And now that we’ve launched, that’s even more true. People are coming out of the woodwork.”

The site will include book reviews, features, literary arts events and a portal of independent booksellers. Selected books will be by Colorado authors, about Colorado or set in Colorado. Original poems and essays will occasionally be published.

“I’m trying to get a good mix of fiction and nonfiction and different subgenres of fiction,” Eastburn said. “There are many good literary fiction writers in Colorado and really good speculative fiction by authors who write fantasy, sci-fi, horror and thrillers.”

The reviews and features will be available for use for free by Colorado newspapers, which Eastburn hopes will help fill the gap in arts coverage.

“The best way to get to know someone who you’ve never met or someone whose life may not look like yours is through a book,” she said.

“We’re terribly polarized at the moment in our country. There’s advice about listening to someone who has different beliefs than you or looks different than you and a book is a great way to see different types of people and their lives fleshed out.”

Contact the writer: 636-0270