Feeling too busy to pick up a good book? Why not have one read to you? Consider it story hour for adults this Thursday, August 11, as the Telluride Writers Guild hosts three phenomenal Colorado writers at the Wilkinson Public Library at 6:30 p.m.

Apropos of the outdoor nature of all three men's works, the reading will be held outside on the library's garden terrace under the tent.

Telluride is just one stop on what the trio are calling The Independent Voices Tour, and it features Colorado Book Award Winner Chris Ransick; Pilgrimage Magazine publisher, Mountain Gazette poetry editor and author Peter Anderson; and Salida poet, artist and Sparrows Poetry Festival organizer Craig Nielson. All three authors will be reading from their new books, all of which are published by regional small publisher Ghost Road Press.

Ransick will read from Never Summer: Poems from Thin Air. The book, which received the Colorado Book Award in 2003, will be re-released by Ghost Road Press in August as an updated second edition with 10 new poems. Ransick's latest book, A Return to Emptiness , the poet's first collection of short stories, has been nominated for a 2005 Colorado Book Award. Peter Anderson will read from his new book First Church of the Higher Elevations: Mountains, Prayer and Presence . The book is a collection of contemplative mountain essays that record Anderson's 10-year journey exploring the connections between place and prayer. Craig Nielson will read from his newly released collection of poetry, Touch of Grace .

In addition to the reading, that afternoon the three authors will be visiting and signing books at Between the Covers bookstore from 5 to 6 p.m.

"We're lucky to have these three men come to Telluride," says Writers Guild Director Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer. "Each one of them has made a big impact on the statewide literary scene, and they all have such strong voices. It would be a great family event."