Celebrating its 125th anniversary this year, the Denver Woman’s Press Club remains an integral part of Denver’s literary scene.
The DWPC started during the suffrage movement to give women a safe location to voice opinions, share ideas and support each other as writers. Today, that support and encouragement has spread to the community at large through its popular Open Mic Nights, which take place in the tiny house in Denver’s Capitol Hill neighborhood.
Founded in 1898, the club has been located at 1325 Logan St. since 1924. Once surrounded by stately homes of the time, it now sits alone, flanked by parking lots. It is the sentry of history and represents the strength and perseverance of women writers.
“The club has been a dynamic spirit affecting cultural and social issues vital to our community and our country,” said Charlotte Hinger of Fort Collins, who is a member and best-selling author.
The club was founded by Minnie J. Reynolds, an early political writer at the now defunct Rocky Mountain News and a state and national suffrage leader. Many of her associates joined in her drive to create a press club west of the Mississippi that represented women writers.
“The DWPC was created as a refuge, a safe haven and a meeting ground for women who believed in the power of the written word, and still do,” said Corinne Joy Brown, a DWPC past president, journalist and author.
The club’s name is a little misleading. Though television and print journalists are members today, so are novelists, essayists, communication specialists, poets, Substack writers, podcasters, screenwriters, editors and more. Its members have received such accolades as the Pulitzer Prize, numerous state and regional recognitions including awards from the Colorado Press Association, the Society of Professional Journalists and the Colorado Book Award. They have achieved New York Times Best Seller status, and most are widely-published authors.
To keep the club moving forward and remain current in attracting new members, the club hosts diverse programs each year. Most are open to the public. Programs include talks like one from Adrian Miller, a food writer and James Beard Award winner, whose 2017 book, “The President’s Kitchen Cabinet,” was a finalist for the NAACP Image Award for Best Literary Non-Fiction.
Last year, a presentation highlighting a 2023 best-selling book, “Lodge, an Indoorsy Tour of America’s National Parks,” by Max Humphrey and co-author DWPC member Kathryn O’Shea Evans, drew a big crowd.
Early last year, the board of directors realized that after 125 years, the club needed a modern twist to attract greater participation by its members and the community.
Happy hour events interested a few and a Little Free Library that was installed in 2022 and replicates the DWPC clubhouse, has been a hit among the club’s Capitol Hill neighbors, but the most popular new event is the Open Mic Night.
Open Mic Night is open to anyone 18 years of age and older, and welcomes all gender identities. Writers from across the Front Range come early to get their names on the list for a chance at five minutes in front of the microphone. Performances begin at 5:15 p.m. and end at 6:30 p.m. By 7 p.m., the clubhouse is dark and left to the ghosts of the past 125 years.
Bruce Walker, a long-time Park Hill resident, has taken the mic many times.
“To have immediate, honest feed-back, is important to any writer,” Walker said. “To get it in a place where good writers have been sharing and developing their craft for more than a hundred years makes it all the more meaningful.”
In front of this friendly crowd, writers read published, non-published and even early drafts of their work. Poetry, plays, novels, essays and nonfiction are cut to five killer-minutes of story.
“Open Mic (Night) motivates me to stretch a little and to try something different. Reading a piece out loud is a great exercise,” said Mary Lou Eagan, a club member who lives in Denver’s University Hills neighborhood.
After the readings, with a glass of wine or a cold beer in hand, participants mingle with audience members for casual discussions of their work.
Linda Berry of Aurora, who is a club member and award-winning playwright, captured the lure of these performances.
“I love the open mics,” Berry said. “It’s partly, I’m sure, because of the novelty – it’s a new thing for me.”
Buffy Gilfoil, a teacher, Lowry resident and club member since 1986, talked about why writers need opportunities like the Open Mic Nights.
“I love the yin and yang of writing,” Gilfoil said, adding that it’s “the isolated meditation involved in giving expression to ideas and the pleasure of being in the company of other writers.”
Editor’s note: Dianne Blomberg is a member of the Denver Woman’s Press Club and served as its president in 2022.
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