As summer begins to settle into Crested Butte, there’s a fleeting window when the mountains are caught between seasons. Snow still clings to the peaks, rivers run high and loud, and the whole town seems to exhale into a slower rhythm. It’s during that seasonal shift that the Mountain Words Festival takes shape, drawing writers and readers into a setting that feels just as reflective as the work itself.
Held each Memorial Day weekend, the festival pairs literary conversation with a real sense of place. It feels unmistakably Colorado—thoughtful and creative, and grounded in the landscape of the American West.
Founded in 2020 by festival director Arvin Ram and Brooke McMillan, the event started as a pandemic-era experiment, hosted online with just a few dozen attendees. Now, it brings in nearly 700 people, a shift Arvin describes as “head and shoulders above where we were,” while still holding onto the OG spirit attendees loved about it from the get-go.
Access and connection are the grounding heart of the festival. “There’s not a lot of barriers between the audience and the speaker,” Arvin says. “Authors are in the festival too. They’re going to see other authors, they’re taking part in it.” It doesn’t feel like a one-way exchange, more like something you step into, where conversations spill out of sessions and into the rest of the weekend.
The programming maintains a similar energy. While books serve as the foundation, the lineup also includes film, playwriting, and hands-on workshops. You might transition from a documentary storytelling session to writing a play within just a few hours. The pace shifts just enough to keep you on your feet and perhaps even encourages you to tiptoe into new avenues of literary arts.
And then there’s the setting, quietly doing its thing in the background. The shoulder-season timing brings a retreat-like feel, with a quiet energy that makes the whole experience feel more intimate and tucked away.
The connection to the environment isn’t just visual, it’s baked into the events’ presenters. Mountain Words prioritizes writers who engage with the West, its landscapes, its histories, and its evolving identity, while also bringing in nationally recognized voices to widen the lens. “I’m always looking for someone who can create a larger understanding of place and time,” Arvin says.
At its core, the festival is about building something that actually lasts. Through free events, youth programming, and its writer- in-residence initiative, Mountain Words is working to open up access to the literary arts.
In a moment when attention feels pulled in a hundred directions, it brings you back to what matters: shared stories, the written word, and the attention they deserve.
Reading List
How to Commit a Postcolonial Murder by Nina McConigley
Set in 1980s Wyoming, this darkly witty novel follows two sisters navigating family, identity, and cultural tensions in the American West.
The Westerners: Mythmaking and Belonging on the American Frontier by Megan Kate Nelson
A revisionist history of the 19th-century American West that highlights diverse, often erased voices and challenges the myth of a white, individualistic frontier.
Seabeast by Rajiv Mohabir
Structured as an alphabetical bestiary, this CU Boulder professor’s poetry collection explores migration, identity, and belonging through marine life.
Skylark by Paula McLain
McLain’s latest novel spans 17th-century Holland and World War II, exploring artistic ambition, resistance, and creativity that endures through upheaval.
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