Ciletti, James

Birth Year (-Died Year)
1943
Birth City
Washington
Birth State
PA
Current Location
Colorado Springs, CO
Occupation(s)
Author and Bookseller
Biography

In 1956 we took a long journey from Washington, Pennsylvania to Colorado, to visit my brother at Lowry Air Base in Denver. We visited Colorado Springs and I fell in love with the area and Colorado. By 1969 I was teaching in Denver, and by 1981 a resident of Woodland Park, and in 1991 moved down to Colorado Springs. During some of those journey's I was a writer in Portland, Oregon, a volunteer fireman and EMT in Idledale, Colorado, and in the 1980s had my own film and video production company, Omega Films, here in the Pikes Peak region. In 1991, after moving down from Woodland Park to Colorado Springs, I ended my career as a filmmaker, wrote my novel, and started Aamstar Bookshop.

In 1997 I married Mary Francis, and moved my bookstore into her shop at Hooked on Books. Together we have five children and five grandchildren and continue our love for family, books, and art. I love all things Italian, including, gardening, cooking and wine making. I give numerous poetry readings and performances, and volunteer teach creative writing in Colorado prisons.

Awards/Honors
Orme School in Mayer, Arizona - Ciletti has been the teaching poet at the Orme School Fine Arts Festival for 42 years
Colorado Historical Society, Caroline Bancroft Prize, First Place for the poem "Bear Dance"
Pikes Peak Poet Laureate, 2010-2012
2007 - Nominated for a Pushcart poetry prize
2004 - First Prize, Literal Latte award $500, for the poem "Getting the Newspaper from the Lawn"
2003 - First Prize, Columbine Poetry Awards, for the poem "Grandmother's Bread Song"
2003 - Poet of the Year by the Pikes Peak Arts Council Awards
2002 - Ciletti was awarded a Frank Waters Fellowship for the month of October in Taos, New Mexico, to work on his novel, "Leaves of Glass"
Education/Training
Master's Degree in English from Bread Loaf School of English, Middlebury College, 1969 - Bachelor of Arts Degree in Philosophy from Loyola University in Chicago, 1967
Local Authors Genres
Organizations
Rocky Mountain Antiquarian Booksellers Association - Poetry West - Pikes Peak Poet Laureate Committee - Arts Business and Education Consortium (ABE)
Speaker Availability
Yes
Speaker Topics
I give poetry readings and performances - Teach and mentor writing workshops: poetry, fiction, memoirs, screenplays - Talk on "Fire on the Falcon's Wings -- Sparking the Creative Passions"