Dakota Crane Denver· stories & essays

— About —

The writer

Dakota Crane Denver is a writer of literary short fiction. He lives in Los Angeles.

His first collection, Faded Flowers, Wilted Weeds, follows the McCorty and Lavetti families across roughly a century. Pointing Skyward, the companion volume, is a book of poems and short prose; each piece opens with a question.

The form is the short story, on purpose. Frank O'Connor argued that the short story belongs, in particular, to submerged populations — the people the novel was never built to hold. This site is a small monument to that argument.

Dakota Crane Denver is a pen name. The day job is tech and corporate. The pen name protects his identity so he can write freely. Everything published is Dakota Crane Denver.

Quick answers

Is any of this written or generated by AI?
No. Every story, poem, and essay is handwritten — most of them first as scribblings on a reMarkable 2 tablet. The site itself was built and is maintained by the writer. Audio recordings are in his own voice. Background music, when present, is AI-assisted. Full process notes in the FAQ.
Why a pen name?
The day job is tech and corporate. The pen name protects his identity so he can write freely. More in the FAQ.
Where can I buy the books?
Both books are on the books page with links to Amazon and other retailers.

Dakota Crane Denver is a pen name.