In 1931 authors in the Rocky Mountain area banded together to form Colorado Authors’ League (CAL). “The development of a center of authorship in Colorado,” Mr. Carhart, the president of the new league, “has been so swift, so amazing, that few people have realized that we have such a center here. Today there are perhaps 150 Colorado authors who appear in the columns of national publications.”
The goals of shared by the CAL writers of depression era America sound very familiar. They sought to influence a new copyright law and wanted "our Rocky Mountain folk to know our Rocky Mountain authors." Members saw shared contacts and addressing of other "practical needs" of writers provided the most significant benefit of membership.
CAL has partnered with the Western History Department of the Denver Public Library throughout its 80 years. CAL's members have researched books and articles in Western History, and Western History has cataloged CAL members books over the decades.
Members value receiving Colorado Authors’ League Awards. Members only compete for this annual recognition. The award enhances the reputation of every winner and opens doors for marketing opportunities.
No professional writer in the early 1930s could have predicted the sea change writers face in the first decades of the 21st century. The explosion of information, the loss of independent newspapers and the collapse of traditional publishing leave writers with both increased opportunity and decreased security. Incredibly, fiction and fact now vie for audience attention under the “news” heading.
Despite the changes, Colorado Authors’ League continues to draw ethical, professional writers to its membership. CAL still supports the earliest goals established in 1931. We share information, industry trends and legal changes. We find ways to help local readers learn more about Colorado writers. We support the writer community and do what we can to shape a better future for professional writers in the years to come.
ARTHUR CARHART, CAL’S FIRST PRESIDENT
CAL’s first president was also the first landscape architect hired by the U.S. Forest Service. A writer of fiction and non-fiction, he was work was “grounded in personal experience and a passion for preservation.” Read more...