Married Regis Poets Launch Books

Goldspot Brewing Hosts Reading Sept. 23

Regis University professors Alyse Knorr and Kate Partridge share a life that encompasses their work teaching English on the same campus, raising two young children at home a few blocks away, and enjoying parks and local businesses within walking distance in the Regis neighborhood. The two now also have their latest books of poetry coming out in the same month.

Knorr’s “Ardor,” released Sept. 1 by Gasher Press, is described by the publisher as, “At the intersections of eco-poetics and queer family-building, ‘Ardor’ moves across the political and natural landscapes of Alaska, Colorado, and the deep American South. The book’s poems meditate on love and motherhood in the context of environmental crisis, foregrounding the domestic in a quest to continually re-imagine a hopeful future.”

Knorr’s writing has appeared in The New Republic, Poetry Magazine, The Southern Review, Alaska Quarterly Review, Denver Quarterly and The Georgia Review.

Partridge’s “THINE,” published by Tupelo Press, “delves into motherhood, climate change, and the couple’s transplantation to Colorado,” according to the publisher. Her poems have appeared in Field, Yale Review, Pleiades, Michigan Quarterly Review, Alaska Quarterly Review and Copper Nickel.

Partridge and Knorr also co-edit a small feminist literary press, Switchback Books, which focuses on books of poetry by women and nonbinary authors.

“Kate and I are both from the South,” said Knorr. “I grew up in Georgia and Kate grew up in Virginia. We met in grad school in Virginia. When we left for Alaska it was my first time living outside of the South. That was a big adjustment. And then moving to Colorado, I feel like Denver is the perfect balance of the things we love about a big city, like having museums and cultural things and urban density, combined with the things we loved about Alaska, like the ability to go skiing, to see beautiful mountains and go on incredible hikes.”

Contrasts between the South, Alaska and the Denver neighborhood they’ve called home for the last seven years have given them plenty to write about and appreciate.

“One of the very first things I noticed about Denver,” Knorr said, “was how incredible the beer scene is. I had heard that, but I was not prepared. Living so close to Goldspot (Brewing) and just having that be a woman-owned space and a queer-owned space has been really huge. I live just a few blocks away from some of the best beer in the country.”

The couple will read from their new books at a launch event at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 23, at Goldspot Brewing Company, 4970 Lowell Blvd. Goldspot owner Kelissa Hieber is brewing a special beer for the occasion.