By Stephanie G’Schwind, Editor-in-Chief, Colorado Review

In May 2018, after more than twenty years of being headquartered in Aylesworth Hall, the Center for Literary Publishing moved across the Colorado State University campus and into the Tiley House, the former site of the Alumni Center. Joining us in this wonderful new space is the Public Lands History Center, our former Aylesworth neighbor.

Front view of a two-story brick and white house, set back on a green lawn with trees
The Tiley House

According to Maren Bzdek, Senior Historic Preservation Planner for the City of Fort Collins (and, coincidentally, the former Program Manager for PLHC), the colonial-revival style house was built in 1946 by L. H. and Mae Tiley. The house was sold in 1974 and has been in commercial use ever since—as, among various enterprises, a construction company’s office, a hair salon, a wedding-photography studio, CSU’s Conference Services, and CSU’s Alumni Center.

Green signage for a college.
The building was recently named for the original owners, L. H. and Mae Tiley
Flowers before an entrance.
Despite appearances, the entrance is actually on the back side of the house
Housemates

We loved our home in Aylesworth, a former dormitory built in 1956, where CLP occupied two large, separate rooms: the former main office for the dorm and an apartment where the supervisor of the resident assistants lived. The best part: a vintage (and still fully functional!) kitchenette.

White 1950s Elkay kitchenette.
Our beloved Elkay kitchenette, circa 1957, RIP

After a remodel in 2005, the CLP office was something of an oasis in the aging building that had become a hodgepodge of various departments, offices, and classrooms. Some three hundred interns spent countless hours in that space helping edit, design, and lay out Colorado Review, the Colorado Prize and Mountain West Poetry series books, and a few anthologies, as well as everything else it has taken to build the Center for Literary Publishing into the success it is today. Within those walls, we licked a lot of envelopes, had a lot of coffee (and only spilled a little), experienced the joy of publishing many writers’ first pieces, hashed out the finer points of punctuation and grammar, helped a number of interns find a career, ate many a pizza, formed great friendships (and even a couple of marriages!), and caught and released a mouse one time.

So we were a little attached to that space.

But Aylesworth has been slated for demolition in 2019 to make way for a modern dorm, and so the time had come for us to move.

Anyone who works on a college or university campus knows that space is always in great demand and short supply, so CLP and PLHC were very lucky when the Tiley House became available after the Alumni Center moved into the new on-campus stadium. We’re especially grateful to Dr. Bruce Ronda, Associate Dean of Liberal Arts, for finding and securing these new offices for us.

After the Tiley House’s many reincarnations, the interior now bears little resemblance to a house, yet retains a charming quirkiness with dormer windows with built-in seats, sloping walls, funky closets, and odd nooks and corners. The College of Liberal Arts and the Vice President for Research contributed generous funding for an extensive remodel that gave us new carpet, paint, lights, ceilings, cabinetry, and updated electrical/date lines, and the house is now a blend of both vintage and modern.

Let’s take a tour!

A group of feet wearing Birkenstock's.
Staff modeling the new eco-friendly carpet (and the official footwear of Colorado Review)
Light shining in to a library and reading space.
Library and reading space
A man and a woman sitting at their computers.
Associate editors Kristin Macintyre and Daniel Schonning reading submissions
A group of people sitting at their computers.
Main room, south view
A group of people sitting at their computers.
Main room, north view
Three succulents under a window in afternoon light.
Windows! Succulents!
A blonde woman sitting at her desk.
Managing editor Katherine Indermaur in her new office
A woman standing at her desk.
Editor-in-chief Stephanie G’Schwind’s office
A small green kitchen in an attic with hardwood floors.
New kitchenette (though our 1957 Elkay all-in-one still lives on in our hearts)
A sunny, carpeted conference room with green and blue walls.
Main floor conference room
Two men recording a podcast in a basement with microphones, headphones, and a computer.
Podcast editors Evan Senie (L) and Daniel Schonning (R) in our new podcast studio (photo by Margaret Browne). Are you listening to our podcast? You should!

We are so, so happy to be in this new space and look forward to making many beautiful books and issues of Colorado Review in the coming years!

A sign for Colorado State University against a bed of flowers in front of trees.