Get to Know Our Resident Journalists: Lisa Kennedy

Lisa Kennedy writes on popular culture among other topics – and has for more than four decades. She was film critic for the Denver Post and later its theater critic. She has been published in the New York Times, Alta magazine, Essence, American Theatre and Variety, among others. She currently conducts nonfiction courses at Lighthouse Writers Workshop and coaches writing. She lives in Denver - the city where she was raised - with her spouse, Becky, and their dogs Jax & Hank.

Anthony Grimes (AG): What drives you to write?

Lisa Kennedy (LK): "Perhaps this will change, but often what drives me is my own mix of confusion, hope and pleasure. "Writing is thinking" goes the quote and it is my way of wrestling with thoughts and feelings and inklings about our world, my place in it, my grasp — as well as others — of its beauty, possibilities and challenges.”

AG: What do you most love about Denver?

LK: "It's ever-evolving access to the human sublime (culture), the ridiculously sublime (sports) and the truly sublime (nature).”

AG: If you could have dinner with any fictional character, who would it be and why?

LK: "I am a nonfiction person but pressed, sit me beside Ripley from the "Alien" movie franchise. Not unlike Bogart's Rick Blaine, she didn't start off so very heroic, but circumstances demanded she become so. So I'd like to chat with her about how she came to terms with scary lethal adversaries while grasping and fighting the cravenness of certain corporate entities, how she understood her own ethical and moral transformation."

Lisa Kennedy's unique voice and cultural commentary are soon to be featured on the Bonfils-Stanton Foundation website. Stay tuned for her upcoming work that promises to engage, inform, and inspire.    

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Our Resident Journalist model is designed to help bridge the visibility gap in Denver’s arts and culture coverage. Despite the city’s vibrant cultural landscape, many powerful stories remain untold, and key figures and transformative projects often go unnoticed. Through this initiative, we’re bringing these essential narratives to the forefront, ensuring they reach the audience they deserve.