May at the Narrow Gauge
- Jean Alger
- May 5
- 10 min read
As we come into May, we’re filled with gratitude for our community after the enthusiasm and support we received on Independent Bookstore Day, and throughout the years.
We hosted a Poetry Reading and Open Mic on April 26th, as a joint celebration of independent bookstores, of poetry month, our local poets, and the creativity of this beautiful place where we live. Five poets shared their work with us: Hanna Hays, Rachel Kellum, Maira Rodriguez, Bill Tite, and Mary Van Pelt.
After their authentic, sometimes painful, but altogether beautiful work, seven people shared their work in the open mic. The event was standing room only, and it was beautiful to see so many show up to support poetry, and to share the words of their hearts.
If you shop regularly at the Narrow Gauge, you’ll know that we often highlight specific months throughout the year, like Women’s History Month, Black History Month, and Pride Month. In May, there is a multiplicity of months which makes it impossible to choose one to highlight. It’s an awareness month for Mental Health, Brain Cancer, Skin Cancer, Cystic Fibrosis, and ALS, to name a few. It’s also Asian American and Pacific Islander History Month, Jewish American Heritage Month, Indian Heritage Month, and South Asian Heritage Month.
Along with the health awareness and heritage months, there are a series of others, too numerous to acknowledge (a fun one I just learned about is National Get Caught Reading Month, which I thought was every month). As I reflect on the multiplicity of celebrations of heritage, calls to awareness, and also just ways to celebrate bikes, barbeque, and books, I think of the many ways that humans try to make each other aware of what matters to us, the many ways we try to communicate and connect. So many of these months, at their core, are asking others to see a group of people they have not previously acknowledged, or to see a group of people who have been mistreated or neglected in the past.
At the heart of these “month” celebrations is the very human desire to be heard, to be acknowledged, to be seen.
I am honored to work in a bookstore, especially one that facilitates ways for people to communicate and connect, and that curates books that allows us to experience a multitude of people, a multitude of lives.
Thank you for helping to make what we do possible. - Jean A.
Non-Profit of the Month: Trout Unlimited, SLV Chapter
IMAGE GOES HERE
Each month, we feature a local nonprofit that serves the San Luis Valley. This month, you can support the SLV chapter of Trout Unlimited.
The motto of Trout Unlimited is “Dedicated to the conservation, preservation, and restoration of North America’s coldwater fisheries and their watersheds.” Their mission statement is “To bring together diverse interests to care for and recover rivers and streams so that our children can experience the joy of wild and native trout and salmon.”
SLVTU embraces their motto and mission by focusing on projects to enhance local and regional watersheds. Among the projects the SLV chapter has worked on are: construction of major in-stream habitat improvement structures (cross-vanes, j-hooks, root wads, etc.) on the Conejos River and the Rio Grande; construction of gabion weirs on the Middle Fork of Saguache Creek; removal of still-water ponds that provided good habitat for Tubifex worms (host of the whirling disease organism Myxobolus cerebralis) along Beaver Creek; planting of willows along La Garita and Kerber Creeks; helping to install electric fencing in the riparian zone along the South Platte River; construction of check dams on drainages above Osier Creek to reduce siltation; construction of fences along sections of the Conejos River and Jim Creek to protect riparian zones from overgrazing; and surveys of fish populations, both by creel census and electroshocking.
Partners in these projects have included the US Forest Service, Colorado Parks and Wildlife (previously Colorado Division of Wildlife), Natural Resource Conservation Service, Conejos River Anglers, Collegiate Peaks Chapter of TU, and others.
In addition, the SLV Trout Unlimited chapter cleans up three miles of highway along the upper Rio Grande twice a year. They have also conducted education projects for both youth and adults by hosting fly-tying, fly-casting and macroinvertebrate identification workshops. You can find out more at their website.
When you shop at the NGBC this month, you'll be asked if you want to round up and donate your change. It's a simple and easy way to support local organizations that help make the Valley what it is!
Check out the titles they recommended!
The River Why by David James Duncan
All the Time in the World by John Gierach (or any book by Gierach)
The Earth is Enough by Harry Middleton
April Artist: Theresa Atencio
Theresa Atencio, an artist currently residing in Alamosa, Colorado, has been creating art with passion and purpose since her 20s. Though she now calls Alamosa home, she spent much of her adult life in nearby Buena Vista.
A self-taught artist, Theresa honed her craft through a blend of in-person classes, mentorships, and online instruction over the years. Her preferred mediums—oils, pastels, and watercolors—allow her to explore the rich interplay of light, shadow, and emotion, especially in her impressionistic landscapes, still lifes, and portraits.
Theresa's art reflects her deep love for color, both in her work and in the world around her. Her spirituality gently weaves into her creative expression, with nature often serving as a source of quiet inspiration. She finds profound motivation in the changing seasons of Colorado, where the vibrant shifts in color mirror the cycles of life and renewal. From the golden hues of autumn to the soft pastels of spring, each season brings new perspectives, allowing her to capture the essence of nature’s beauty.
Her art has earned recognition, including a 1st place award in professional graphics at the Chaffee County Council on the Arts. For Theresa, painting is not just a creative outlet but a way to uplift her spirit, strengthen her appreciation for the natural world, and explore the joy that comes from working with color and style.
May Events at the Narrow Gauge
Mother's day is approaching, and so is graduation season. We'll have special gifts for moms and grads on Saturday, May 10th, and Sunday May 11th, to help you celebrate your special day!
Spadefoot Story Slam: May 17th, 6pm
Each month, we host the Spadefoot Story Slam community, sharing stories based on a theme, selected at the previous month’s Slam. While inspired by the Moth Story Hour, our monthly meetings are not a contest, but instead are a way to come together and practice sharing, and deep listening.
Join us for stories about Fears of the Unknown. Have you made a big life change on a leap of faith? What adventures brought you out of your comfort zone? Tell us about the time you jumped into the deep end, of your first day at school or on the job jitters, you survived your type 2 fun trip. For me, this feeling is fully in the body and visceral. Keyed-up, a bundle of nerves and excitement all in one.
As Yvon Chouinard says, "Fear of the unknown is the greatest fear of all." We'll catch y'all on May 17th at 6 PM at the Narrow Gauge Book Coop for your stories on Fear of the Unknown.
As always, we encourage creative interpretation of the theme! Stories should be true as remembered by you, and spoken from the heart, instead of read from the page. We look forward to seeing you!
More News for the NGBC
35th Annual Reading the West Book Awards: The Shortlist Is Here!
The Reading the West Book Awards are sponsored and promoted by the Mountains & Plains Independent Booksellers Association. The awards honor the best fiction, non-fiction, and illustrated books for adults and children set in one of the states, or created by an author or artist living or working in the region. The awards, given to books published in the previous calendar year, celebrate the rich variety of writing in and about this region, and reflect the extraordinary diversity of the reading public.
Each year’s awards celebrate books published in the prior calendar year.
A long-list is created from all titles nominated by publishers and authors.
Reading the West Book Award reading committees, made up of regional booksellers, read the nominated titles to create shortlists of titles per award category.
Category winners are determined by bookseller and public voting.
Winners are announced at a live event in the spring.
The shortlist was announced on May 1st. You can read it here. Have you read any of them? Are there any on your TBR?
Jean read Becoming Little Shell by Chris La Tray last year, and Magical/Realism by Vanessa Angelica Villareal. She also read The Mighty Red by Louise Erdrich. You can find a book review of The Mighty Red, here. Jean is hoping to get book reviews of Becoming Little Shell and Magical/Realism up in the next couple of weeks. We have a selection of the shortlist titles in store already, and we'll have more in soon! We're excited to honor writers of our region, and to honor selections made by indie bookstores, and by readers like you!
Indie Press Book Club: Next Feature
Throughout the year, the Narrow Gauge Book Cooperative features different independent presses as part of our Indie Press Book Club. Our featured press for May and June is Feminist Press, and our book is The Sapling Cage by Margaret Killjoy.
Indie Press Book Club meets on the first Wednesday of the
month, every other month. Check our website for dates! We announce the upcoming book at each book club meeting, and explore fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, all from independent presses.
About the Book:
In the gripping first novel in the Daughters of the Empty Throne trilogy, author Margaret Killjoy spins a tale of earth magic, power struggle, and self-invention in a powerful story of trans witchcraft.
Lorel has always dreamed of becoming a witch: learning magic, fighting monsters, and exploring the world beyond the small town where she and her mother run the stables. Even though a strange plague is killing the trees in the Kingdom of Cekon and witches are being blamed for it, Lorel wants nothing more than to join them. There’s only one problem: all witches are women, and she was born a boy. When the coven comes to claim her best friend, Lorel disguises herself in a dress and joins in her friend’s place, leaving home and her old self behind. This read sounds thrilling, and we’re excited to explore it together!
About the Press:
The Feminist Press has a mission to publish books that ignite movements and social transformation. Celebrating our legacy, they lift up insurgent and marginalized voices from around the world to build a more just future. Their vision is to create a world where everyone recognizes themselves in a book.
Founded in 1970, they began as a crucial publishing component of second wave feminism, reprinting feminist classics by writers such as Zora Neale Hurston and Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and providing much-needed texts for the developing field of women’s studies. They publish feminist literature from around the world, by best-selling authors such as Shahrnush Parsipur, Ruth Kluger, and Ama Ata Aidoo; and North American writers of diverse race and class experience, such as Paule Marshall and Rahna Reiko Rizzuto. They have become the vanguard for books on contemporary feminist issues of equality and gender identity, with authors as various as Anita Hill, Justin Vivian Bond, and Ann Jones.
Feminist Press publishes twelve to fifteen books a year and specializes in an array of genres including cutting-edge literary fiction, activist nonfiction, literature in translation, hybrid memoirs, and more.
They are seeking political and cultural activist nonfiction that furthers our understanding of intersectional feminism. They gravitate toward voice- and vision-driven stories as well as genre-defying texts. Other topics of interest include feminist dystopia, environmental justice, and immigration stories. See more of their publications at their website.
Many Ways to Shop the NGBC
Shop In Store
You can shop with us in store and browse the shelves. Find the book you're looking for, or find a book you didn't know you were looking for! Our booksellers are happy to help you find the title, make recommendations, or order a book if we don't have it in stock.
Shop Online
We have an indie commerce website, through IndieLite, that allows customers to place orders online. Just go to narrowgaugebooks.com and click on the "Shop Online" button. Then, click "order a book" and you'll be redirected to our indie commerce site. You can search for the book you want, and then place your order from wherever you are! There are options to have your book shipped to you, or to pick up your book in store! You can even have your book shipped to someone else, if you're looking to skip the hassle of shipping the book yourself.
Call Us!
You can call us at 719-589-3464 to see if we have a book on the shelf. We'll be happy to put it aside for you! We can hold books for up to one week, so you can be sure that title is ready and waiting next time to stop in!
Preorders
You can preorder your next greatly anticipated book! Preorders help us know what our customers are excited about, and help us more effectively judge how many copies we should order. Often, we get new releases ahead of their publishing date, so when publishing Tuesday rolls around, we'll have your shiny new book ready and waiting for you to dive into the pages!
Call for Artists
We're consistently amazed by the talented artists that live in the San Luis Valley! We received many submissions, and have most of our calendar year filled! We still need artists for October, November, and December, so please submit, or pass along the call to the artists you know!
Our most common features are painting and photography, though we have also had fiber arts, glass art, and ceramics.
Featured artists have a show for one month. We'll promote your art on our social media accounts, feature you in our monthly newsletter, send a press-release to the newspaper, and schedule an artist reception if you want to have one.
We try to feature new artists each year; if you were featured in 2024, please wait to apply again until we put out a call for 2026.
If you would like to be a featured, please fill out the application by clicking here. You'll be asked to upload photo samples of your work, to provide a bio and artist statement, and to provide months when you are not available. If you have questions about any part of the application, please email us at narrowgauge.coop@gmail.com.
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