The Pueblo Progressive Poetry Project (P4) is an artistic platform for individuals to experience the spoken word with the community. Juan J.
Pueblo, Colorado is at the epicenter of a powerful and exciting convergence of fine art and street art which can be seen throughout the community. Poetry readings come in all shapes and sizes in Pueblo which engage both the poet and the listening audience in a journey of discovery and self expression. The Pueblo Creative Corridor, which is just over one mile in length from the Mesa Junction, throu
gh Union Avenue and into the Downtown area, is home to a wide variety of creative industries that help shape the art scene in Pueblo and throughout Southern Colorado and beyond. The Pueblo Progressive Poetry Project is a new creative platform and exercise that will use the spoken word in a new and innovative manner. Pueblo Progressive Poetry Project reading events will be at their core a time for artists to share their words, but in the grand tradition of a 'progressive dinner or event', the poets and the listening audience will move in a progressive manner on foot from one venue to another to showcase the power of language. The addition of walking to the experience will not only introduce wellness in an appropriate manner, but also facilitate new place-making or to reintroduce a place or neighborhood in Pueblo. The original concept for the Pueblo Progressive Poetry Project developed after a creative conversation with Juan Morales and Gregory Howell. The two decided to inaugurate the very first Progressive Poetry reading in Downtown Pueblo along the ARTery and Central Plaza. Morales is an Assistant Professor of English and the Director of Creative Writing. He received his BA from the University of Southern Colorado and his MFA from the University of New Mexico. His first collection of poetry, Friday and the Year That Followed, was the winner of the 2005 Rhea and Seymour Gorsline Poetry Competition and was published by Bedbug Press in 2006. His poetry has also appeared in Acentos Review, Border Senses, Copper Nickel, Many Mountains Moving, PALABRA, Poet Lore, War, Literature, & the Arts, Washington Square, and other journals. He is currently working on his second collection of poems. Storyteller, curator and business consultant, Gregory Howell made his way to Pueblo via Tokyo to join a team of innovative physicians in the launch of a network of medical clinics in Colorado and Texas. Gregory is the owner of Kadoya Gallery on Central Plaza in Downtown Pueblo and since his arrival in Southern Colorado has launched the Shoe Factory, the ARTery, and the Underground in the HIstoric Federal Building.
