Join us on the patio for an Autumn afternoon reading with authors Krista Hanley and Aaron Simmons for conversations on grief, trauma, loss, and survival. Krista Hanley will be reading from her new memoir, How to Survive a Mass Shooting: A Columbine Memoir. Joining Krista in conversation is local author Aaron Simmons, who will be sharing from his book widow- widower- widowest- :a grief mosaic.
How to Survive a Mass Shooting: A Columbine Memoir (Motina Books) chronicles the life of a Columbine High School mass shooting survivor during the days, months, and years that followed. Memories of school and friendships before the event weave through chaos and guilt that erupted in the wake of one of the most notorious mass shootings in the United States. How-to lists are employed throughout the book, borrowing from the self-help genre to break up the narrative and acknowledge the desperate and sometimes-fruitless search for answers and healing.
While our nation continuously faces senseless violence, the memoir aims to widen the discussion on our culture of violence and individual trauma. How to Survive a Mass Shooting addresses the losses and struggles of mass shooting survivors, and how turning towards art, sharing our stories, and empowering ourselves can bring resilience, recovery, and maybe even hope.
About the Author:
Krista Hanley’s work lives at the intersection of trauma, creativity, and empowerment. A survivor of the tragedy at Columbine High School, she writes and speaks about transforming trauma into meaning. Her debut book, How to Survive a Mass Shooting: A Columbine Memoir (Motina Books 9/2026) explores her life before and after Columbine. Her award-winning creative nonfiction has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Huffington Post, Memoir Magazine, and she has been featured on BBC, NPR, ABC, and Colorado Public Radio.
Krista is the co-owner of We Are Safer Together, where she facilitates trauma-informed self-defense and empowerment programs for individuals, schools, and organizations. With more than a decade of experience in violence prevention training, she integrates somatic awareness, boundary-setting skills, and prevention education into practical, ethical, and trauma-informed safety programming.
About widow- widower- widowest- :a grief mosaic:
After Aaron’s wife Polly died, they wrote a book together.
It started with the intense process of creating the memorial service and writing her eulogy. He put everything he had into it.
But then a strange thing happened — the writing kept coming. It came out in letters and poems and short essays that explore the impact of becoming a widower in his 40s, what it means for him and their three young children, how to be a solo father, and where to go from here. Talking about grief is like staring into the sun, so Aaron doesn’t come at it directly, but through the side door, through the windows, in little snippets that were bearable to write.
At the same time, he discovered Polly’s journals, written in her idiosyncratic style, sort of like ee cummings with dashes. What a gift she left! In her writings she contemplates her art, their kids, being a mother, the loss of her own mother, her 16-year relationship with Aaron, and (presciently) the nature of death.
Aaron’s musings with Polly’s diary — by turns funny, poignant, and sad — interleave to form a mosaic of the life that was lost and the lives she left behind.
About the Authors:
Aaron M. Simmons is originally from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, though you can't tell it from his accent. He moved to Boulder, Colorado, after a stint as an IT volunteer in Peace Corps Philippines (2006-2008). Lately a solo father of three. Writes computer software for a living, and sometimes words.
Polly G. Simmons was raised in Lakewood, Colorado. Earned a BA and MFA from CU Boulder. Served as an education volunteer in Peace Corps Philippines (2006-2008). A diverse artist and stay-at-home mother of three until her untimely death in 2022.