Denver Poet Laureate Chris Ransick has won awards for his books of poetry and fiction, as well as recognition for his workshops and speaking appearances. A recent participant in one of his seminars remarked, "Chris offers ringing insight and clarity in his work, both on the page and at the front of the room."
Many of his poems and stories have appeared in literary magazines and anthologies in the United States and Canada. Chris’ first book, Never Summer, won a 2003 Colorado Book Award for Poetry and was released in a second edition in 2005. His collection of short fiction, A Return to Emptiness, was a finalist for the 2005 Colorado Book Award, and he followed that with two additional collections of poetry: Lost Songs & Last Chances in 2006 and most recently, Asleep Beneath the Hill of Dreams. He received a planning grant in 2009 from Colorado Humanities and the National Endowment for the Humanities to begin work on assembling a comprehensive anthology of Colorado literature.
Chris currently teaches at Lighthouse Writers Workshop, Denver's award-winning independent creative writing program.