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Lit Fest 2024
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Friday, June 7
 

9:00am MDT

Tapping Into Your Weirdness (V)
Register
George Saunders says, “Fiction at its best is not supposed to just be this flat, perfectly reflective mirror that presents a linear position of ‘life as it is.’ We should expect and enjoy some distortion in the baseline representation.” This craft seminar will be geared toward allowing that distortion—that weirdness—into your own writing. By close-reading examples of distorted realities, practicing written exercises, and sharing our results, we’ll address how and why “tapping into the weird” might be the best thing for your work at both the generative and revision stages. Come ready to get weird.
Speakers
avatar for Alexander Lumans

Alexander Lumans

Instructor
Alexander Lumans was awarded a 2018 NEA Creative Writing Grant in Fiction. He was also awarded a fellowship to the 2015 Arctic Circle Residency and was the Spring 2014 Philip Roth Resident at Bucknell University. His fiction and nonfiction have appeared in The Paris Review, Electric... Read More →

Friday June 7, 2024 9:00am - 11:00am MDT
Zoom
  Fiction   Nonfiction/Memoir   Poetry   Hybrid

9:00am MDT

To Meander, Spiral, Explode
Register
This generative class will explore the narrative structures of meandering, spiraling, and exploding by paying homage to Meander, Spiral, Explode by Jane Alison (no need to read/have). We'll employ divinatory poetics for prompts to get us started and to keep going; specifically, the instructor will use the art of bibliomancy, turning to The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows by John Koenig as the Muse (also no need to read/have). Come with an open mind! You might start something new or dive deeper into a work-in-progress. There’s no telling if you'll meander, spiral, or fracture, but you will come away with more knowledge about these structures.
Speakers
avatar for Sarah Elizabeth Schantz

Sarah Elizabeth Schantz

Instructor
Sarah Elizabeth Schantz is primarily a fiction writer living on the outskirts of Boulder, Colorado in a Victorian-era farmhouse where her family is surrounded by open sky and century-old cottonwoods. She literally grew up in a bookstore with parents who worshipped all things literature... Read More →

Friday June 7, 2024 9:00am - 11:00am MDT
204
  Fiction   Nonfiction/Memoir   Hybrid   Poetry

12:00pm MDT

Lunchtime Business Panel: Agents 101
Register
Have you ever wondered how an agent reads the slush pile? Are you querying to no avail? Or just curious about how it all works? Join four agents as they tell the candid story of what they do. They’ll share tips and strategies for successfully targeting and querying agents and give you insights into what not to do. Each agent will share one thing you absolutely must know; you’ll leave with an understanding of the inner workings of publishing and how you can best begin your publishing journey.
Speakers
avatar for Paige Terlip

Paige Terlip

Agent
Paige Terlip represents all categories of children’s books from picture books to young adult, as well as select adult fiction, including thrillers/psychological suspense, fantasy/sci-fi, horror, upmarket fiction, romance, and mysteries. Regardless of genre, she is seeking inclusive... Read More →
avatar for Mira Landry

Mira Landry

Agent
Mira Landry is an Associate Literary Agent with Corvisiero Literary Agency. She’s dedicated to building writing and literary communities through events and educational programming, and co-hosts a podcast analyzing recently published books using Literary Forensics called Writers... Read More →
RS

Rebecca Shaevitz

Agent
Rebecca Shaevitz is a literary agent at Verve Talent & Literary Agency, a full service Entertainment and Publishing agency with offices in New York and Los Angeles. On the nonfiction side, Rebecca specializes in narrative and platform-driven works, and on the fiction side she’s... Read More →
avatar for Renée Jarvis

Renée Jarvis

Agent
Renée Jarvis is an agent at Triangle House Literary. Born and raised in New York City, she graduated from Brooklyn College with a BFA in Creative Writing. She previously worked as an assistant and agent at MacKenzie Wolf Literary and spent two years as a writing teacher at the non-profit... Read More →
avatar for Shana Kelly

Shana Kelly

Instructor
Shana Kelly started her career as a literary agent at the William Morris Agency in New York and London, where she sold foreign and British rights for the agency for ten years. Shana was the signing agent for many successful authors, including New York Times bestseller Curtis Sittenfeld... Read More →

Friday June 7, 2024 12:00pm - 1:00pm MDT
Beacon Hall
  Fiction   Nonfiction/Memoir   Hybrid   YA/Children's   Publishing/Career

12:00pm MDT

Lunchtime Business Panel: Agents 101 (Livestream)
Register
Have you ever wondered how an agent reads the slush pile? Are you querying to no avail? Or just curious about how it all works? Join four agents as they tell the candid story of what they do. They’ll share tips and strategies for successfully targeting and querying agents and give you insights into what not to do. Each agent will share one thing you absolutely must know; you’ll leave with an understanding of the inner workings of publishing and how you can best begin your publishing journey.
Speakers
avatar for Paige Terlip

Paige Terlip

Agent
Paige Terlip represents all categories of children’s books from picture books to young adult, as well as select adult fiction, including thrillers/psychological suspense, fantasy/sci-fi, horror, upmarket fiction, romance, and mysteries. Regardless of genre, she is seeking inclusive... Read More →
avatar for Mira Landry

Mira Landry

Agent
Mira Landry is an Associate Literary Agent with Corvisiero Literary Agency. She’s dedicated to building writing and literary communities through events and educational programming, and co-hosts a podcast analyzing recently published books using Literary Forensics called Writers... Read More →
RS

Rebecca Shaevitz

Agent
Rebecca Shaevitz is a literary agent at Verve Talent & Literary Agency, a full service Entertainment and Publishing agency with offices in New York and Los Angeles. On the nonfiction side, Rebecca specializes in narrative and platform-driven works, and on the fiction side she’s... Read More →
avatar for Renée Jarvis

Renée Jarvis

Agent
Renée Jarvis is an agent at Triangle House Literary. Born and raised in New York City, she graduated from Brooklyn College with a BFA in Creative Writing. She previously worked as an assistant and agent at MacKenzie Wolf Literary and spent two years as a writing teacher at the non-profit... Read More →
avatar for Shana Kelly

Shana Kelly

Instructor
Shana Kelly started her career as a literary agent at the William Morris Agency in New York and London, where she sold foreign and British rights for the agency for ten years. Shana was the signing agent for many successful authors, including New York Times bestseller Curtis Sittenfeld... Read More →

Friday June 7, 2024 12:00pm - 1:00pm MDT
Zoom
  Fiction   Nonfiction/Memoir   Hybrid   YA/Children's   Publishing/Career

1:30pm MDT

The Exquisite is in the Details
Register
In this detail-oriented class, we'll examine three different types of detail crucial to the craft of creative writing—the concrete, the significant, and the specific—as well as how, when, and why to use them.
Speakers
avatar for Sarah Elizabeth Schantz

Sarah Elizabeth Schantz

Instructor
Sarah Elizabeth Schantz is primarily a fiction writer living on the outskirts of Boulder, Colorado in a Victorian-era farmhouse where her family is surrounded by open sky and century-old cottonwoods. She literally grew up in a bookstore with parents who worshipped all things literature... Read More →

Friday June 7, 2024 1:30pm - 3:30pm MDT
304
  Fiction   Nonfiction/Memoir   Hybrid

4:00pm MDT

Hopeful Monsters
Register
In evolutionary biology, a “hopeful monster” is an aberrant organism flawed by the usual norms of its species but with the potential to be unexpectedly well-adapted to the world into which it is born. This term can help us to challenge received notions about what "good writing" should do and turn the workshop into a laboratory where we explore, reconsider, and give functional meaning to newness. Through the reading of texts by Amos Tutuola, Philip K. Dick, and Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, we'll explore notions of malformation and mutation and interrogate the relationship between "structure" and "form." This talk will urge you to build completed pieces from your abandoned or unwanted works and spend time revisiting "monsters" and mistakes.
Speakers
avatar for Alexandra Kleeman

Alexandra Kleeman

Visiting Author
Alexandra Kleeman is the author of the novel Something New Under the Sun, Intimations, a short story collection, and the novel You Too Can Have A Body Like Mine, which was awarded the 2016 Bard Fiction Prize and was a New York Times Editor’s Choice. In 2020, she was awarded the... Read More →

Friday June 7, 2024 4:00pm - 6:00pm MDT
Beacon Hall
  Fiction   Nonfiction/Memoir   Hybrid

4:00pm MDT

Hopeful Monsters (Livestream)
Register
In evolutionary biology, a “hopeful monster” is an aberrant organism flawed by the usual norms of its species but with the potential to be unexpectedly well-adapted to the world into which it is born. This term can help us to challenge received notions about what "good writing" should do and turn the workshop into a laboratory where we explore, reconsider, and give functional meaning to newness. Through the reading of texts by Amos Tutuola, Philip K. Dick, and Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, we'll explore notions of malformation and mutation and interrogate the relationship between "structure" and "form." This talk will urge you to build completed pieces from your abandoned or unwanted works and spend time revisiting "monsters" and mistakes.
Speakers
avatar for Alexandra Kleeman

Alexandra Kleeman

Visiting Author
Alexandra Kleeman is the author of the novel Something New Under the Sun, Intimations, a short story collection, and the novel You Too Can Have A Body Like Mine, which was awarded the 2016 Bard Fiction Prize and was a New York Times Editor’s Choice. In 2020, she was awarded the... Read More →

Friday June 7, 2024 4:00pm - 6:00pm MDT
Zoom
  Fiction   Nonfiction/Memoir   Hybrid

4:00pm MDT

Mining Memories (V)
Register
Flannery O'Connor once said that anyone who lives to age 18 has enough stories to last them an entire lifetime. But how do we access all those memories for use in our writing, and how do we turn them from memory into art? This class explores techniques for retrieving old memories and employing them in our writing projects, both prose and verse.
Speakers
avatar for Alyse Knorr

Alyse Knorr

Instructor
Alyse Knorr is an assistant professor of English at Regis University and, since 2017, co-editor of Switchback Books. Her most recent book of poems, Mega-City Redux, won the 2016 Green Mountains Review Poetry Prize, selected by Olena Kalytiak Davis. She is also the author of the poetry... Read More →

Friday June 7, 2024 4:00pm - 6:00pm MDT
Zoom
  Fiction   Nonfiction/Memoir   Poetry   Hybrid

4:00pm MDT

The Art of Speculation
Register
There are gaps in facts and reality, be it our private memories or the historical record. Speculation helps us interrogate these gaps and bring to light stories that have been hidden or suppressed. In this class, we'll discuss some examples, techniques, and ethical considerations around speculation in writing nonfiction, and consider how we access truth in the face of erasure. There will be plenty of time for discussion as well as playing with strategies to access your unspoken truths.
Speakers
avatar for Teow Lim Goh

Teow Lim Goh

Instructor
Teow Lim Goh is the author of two poetry collections, Islanders (2016) and Faraway Places (2021), and an essay collection Western Journeys (2022). Her essays, poetry, and criticism have been featured in The Georgia Review, Beloit Poetry Journal, Los Angeles Review of Books, PBS NewsHour... Read More →

Friday June 7, 2024 4:00pm - 6:00pm MDT
315
  Nonfiction/Memoir   Hybrid
 
Saturday, June 8
 

12:00pm MDT

Lunchtime Business Panel: Debuts
Register
Hear several debut authors with recent first book publications talk about their journeys from page one to page done. What’s it like to finish and publish a debut work in the contemporary literary landscape? What do published authors wish they knew when starting out? What mysteries still remain going forward? Discussion will also take on recent trends in publishing, what makes a stand-out debut, and what writers can learn from debuts that have blown up.
Speakers
avatar for Elizabeth DeMeo

Elizabeth DeMeo

Agent
Elizabeth DeMeo is an Editor at Tin House, where she acquires and edits books of fiction and literary nonfiction. Books she's edited have won the Pacific Northwest Book Award and CALIBA Golden Poppy Award; been short- or longlisted for the LA Times Book Prize, Carol Shields Prize... Read More →
avatar for Joel H. Morris

Joel H. Morris

Panelist
Joel H. Morris is the author of All Our Yesterdays, his debut novel. He has worked most recently as an English teacher and, for the past twenty years, has taught language and literature. He is the recipient of a year-long Fulbright Research Scholarship for archival research in Germany... Read More →
avatar for Gina DeMillo Wagner

Gina DeMillo Wagner

Instructor
Gina DeMillo Wagner is the author of Forces of Nature: A Memoir of Family, Loss, and Finding Home. Her writing has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Memoir Magazine, Modern Loss, Self, Outside, CRAFT Literary, and other publications. She is a Yaddo fellow... Read More →
avatar for Minda Honey

Minda Honey

Instructor
Minda Honey’s (she/her) essays on politics and relationships have appeared in Harper’s Baazar, the Los Angeles Review of Books, the Washington Post, the Guardian, the Oxford American, Teen Vogue, and Longreads.Her work is featured in “Burn It Down: Women Writing About Ange... Read More →
avatar for Christine Lai

Christine Lai

Instructor
Christine is a novelist and essayist based in Vancouver, Canada. She holds a PhD in English literature from University College London in the U.K. Her debut novel, Landscapes, was published by Two Dollar Radio in September 2023, and was longlisted for the Republic of Consciousness... Read More →

Saturday June 8, 2024 12:00pm - 1:00pm MDT
Beacon Hall
  Fiction   Nonfiction/Memoir   Hybrid   Poetry   Publishing/Career

12:00pm MDT

Lunchtime Business Panel: Debuts (Livestream)
Register
Hear several debut authors with recent first book publications talk about their journeys from page one to page done. What’s it like to finish and publish a debut work in the contemporary literary landscape? What do published authors wish they knew when starting out? What mysteries still remain going forward? Discussion will also take on recent trends in publishing, what makes a stand-out debut, and what writers can learn from debuts that have blown up.
Speakers
avatar for Elizabeth DeMeo

Elizabeth DeMeo

Agent
Elizabeth DeMeo is an Editor at Tin House, where she acquires and edits books of fiction and literary nonfiction. Books she's edited have won the Pacific Northwest Book Award and CALIBA Golden Poppy Award; been short- or longlisted for the LA Times Book Prize, Carol Shields Prize... Read More →
avatar for Joel H. Morris

Joel H. Morris

Panelist
Joel H. Morris is the author of All Our Yesterdays, his debut novel. He has worked most recently as an English teacher and, for the past twenty years, has taught language and literature. He is the recipient of a year-long Fulbright Research Scholarship for archival research in Germany... Read More →
avatar for Gina DeMillo Wagner

Gina DeMillo Wagner

Instructor
Gina DeMillo Wagner is the author of Forces of Nature: A Memoir of Family, Loss, and Finding Home. Her writing has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Memoir Magazine, Modern Loss, Self, Outside, CRAFT Literary, and other publications. She is a Yaddo fellow... Read More →
avatar for Minda Honey

Minda Honey

Instructor
Minda Honey’s (she/her) essays on politics and relationships have appeared in Harper’s Baazar, the Los Angeles Review of Books, the Washington Post, the Guardian, the Oxford American, Teen Vogue, and Longreads.Her work is featured in “Burn It Down: Women Writing About Ange... Read More →
avatar for Christine Lai

Christine Lai

Instructor
Christine is a novelist and essayist based in Vancouver, Canada. She holds a PhD in English literature from University College London in the U.K. Her debut novel, Landscapes, was published by Two Dollar Radio in September 2023, and was longlisted for the Republic of Consciousness... Read More →

Saturday June 8, 2024 12:00pm - 1:00pm MDT
Zoom
  Fiction   Nonfiction/Memoir   Hybrid   Poetry   Publishing/Career

1:00pm MDT

Two-Day Intensive: Modulation—Your Voice and How to Use It (V)
Register
Your literary voice is like a fingerprint, individual to you alone—it has grown from what you’ve lived, what you’ve read, how you understand the world, and how you hope to shape the world on the page. In this intensive, we’ll steal from excellent examples, add layers and new tricks to your voice, and learn how to modulate your voice for pacing, mood, variety, and complexity. You’ll leave with an understanding of how your voice sets you apart and how you can use aspects of your voice for different effects on the page.
Speakers
avatar for William Haywood Henderson

William Haywood Henderson

Instructor
William Haywood Henderson earned a BA in English from the University of California at Berkeley, an MA in creative writing from Brown University, and attended Stanford University as a Wallace Stegner Fellow in Creative Writing. He is the author of three novels: Native, The Rest of... Read More →

Saturday June 8, 2024 1:00pm - Sunday June 9, 2024 4:00pm MDT
Zoom
  Fiction   Nonfiction/Memoir   Hybrid

1:00pm MDT

Two-Day Intensive: Two-Day Story/Essay
Register
Ready, set, write! In this generative intensive, we’ll write a short story or essay over two days. Using targeted exercises and a few insider tricks, we’ll work on particular elements of short stories/essays (both traditional or nontraditional) to form new characters, settings, story arcs, dialogue, action, interiority, and more! Come with a basic story idea and leave with a complete(ish) story to continue perfecting on your own. Open to all short prose genres.
Speakers
avatar for Erika Krouse

Erika Krouse

Instructor
Erika Krouse has taught at Lighthouse since 2008; she is a Book Project mentor and a winner of the Lighthouse Beacon Award. Erika's recent memoir, Tell Me Everything: The Story of a Private Investigation, won the 2023 Edgar Award for Best Fact Crime and the 2023 Colorado Book Award... Read More →

Saturday June 8, 2024 1:00pm - Sunday June 9, 2024 4:00pm MDT
304
  Fiction   Nonfiction/Memoir   Hybrid   YA/Children's

1:30pm MDT

Sharpening Your Sentences
Register
In this two-hour seminar we'll talk about ways to structure our sentences for maximum impact, how to trim adjectives without losing your meaning, how to make verbs do the work, and the ways punctuation can push a point home. There's music in good prose writing, as we know, and that music is what this class is all about.
Speakers
avatar for John Cotter

John Cotter

Instructor
John Cotter is the author of a memoir, Losing Music, forthcoming from Milkweed Editions, and Under the Small Lights, winner of the Miami University Press novella contest. His essays, theater pieces, and fiction have appeared, or will appear soon, in New England Review, Raritan, Georgia... Read More →

Saturday June 8, 2024 1:30pm - 3:30pm MDT
Beacon Hall
  Fiction   Nonfiction/Memoir   Hybrid   Poetry
 
Sunday, June 9
 

12:00pm MDT

Lunchtime Business Panel: Contests, Residencies, and More—Ways to Get Out There
Register
Book contests with publication as a prize are a major way that all kinds of books make it into print, especially story collections, poetry, unconventional memoirs, and hybrid books. Artist residencies can increase your writer profile and lead to new opportunities. From reading series to juried workshops, there are more ways than ever to get your writing in front of those who can help make a career. Hear from authors with diverse experience in the literary world on how achieving a writing career isn’t a straight line but a journey with lots of day trips, rest stops, and double-booking.
Speakers
avatar for Angie Chuang

Angie Chuang

Instructor
Angie Chuang is an associate professor of journalism at University of Colorado Boulder who writes and teaches a wide range of nonfiction forms. Her memoir, The Four Words for Home (Aquarius Press/Willow Books, 2014),won an Independents Publishers Award for Multicultural Nonfiction... Read More →
avatar for Jenny Shank

Jenny Shank

Instructor
Jenny Shank's short story collection, Mixed Company, won the George Garrett Fiction Prize and is a finalist for the Colorado Book Award (General Fiction). Jenny Shank's novel, The Ringer, won the High Plains Book Award in fiction, was a finalist for the Mountains & Plains Independent... Read More →
avatar for Radha Marcum

Radha Marcum

Instructor
Radha Marcum, MFA, won the 2023 Washington Prize for her forthcoming collection, Pine Soot Tendon Bone (2024). She was also awarded the New Mexico Book Award in 2018 for her first collection of poems, Bloodline (3: A Taos Press), about her grandfather's work building the first atomic... Read More →
avatar for Jenee Skinner

Jenee Skinner

Instructor
Jeneé Skinner is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. She also went abroad to the University of Oxford to study Renaissance Literature and the Italian Renaissance. Her work has appeared in Kenyon Review, Catapult, Roxane Gay’s The Audacity, Missouri Review, and elsewhere... Read More →

Sunday June 9, 2024 12:00pm - 1:00pm MDT
Beacon Hall
  Fiction   Nonfiction/Memoir   Hybrid   Poetry   Publishing/Career

12:00pm MDT

Lunchtime Business Panel: Contests, Residencies, and More—Ways to Get Out There (Livestream)
Register
Book contests with publication as a prize are a major way that all kinds of books make it into print, especially story collections, poetry, unconventional memoirs, and hybrid books. Artist residencies can increase your writer profile and lead to new opportunities. From reading series to juried workshops, there are more ways than ever to get your writing in front of those who can help make a career. Hear from authors with diverse experience in the literary world on how achieving a writing career isn’t a straight line but a journey with lots of day trips, rest stops, and double-booking.
Speakers
avatar for Angie Chuang

Angie Chuang

Instructor
Angie Chuang is an associate professor of journalism at University of Colorado Boulder who writes and teaches a wide range of nonfiction forms. Her memoir, The Four Words for Home (Aquarius Press/Willow Books, 2014),won an Independents Publishers Award for Multicultural Nonfiction... Read More →
avatar for Jenny Shank

Jenny Shank

Instructor
Jenny Shank's short story collection, Mixed Company, won the George Garrett Fiction Prize and is a finalist for the Colorado Book Award (General Fiction). Jenny Shank's novel, The Ringer, won the High Plains Book Award in fiction, was a finalist for the Mountains & Plains Independent... Read More →
avatar for Radha Marcum

Radha Marcum

Instructor
Radha Marcum, MFA, won the 2023 Washington Prize for her forthcoming collection, Pine Soot Tendon Bone (2024). She was also awarded the New Mexico Book Award in 2018 for her first collection of poems, Bloodline (3: A Taos Press), about her grandfather's work building the first atomic... Read More →
avatar for Jenee Skinner

Jenee Skinner

Instructor
Jeneé Skinner is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. She also went abroad to the University of Oxford to study Renaissance Literature and the Italian Renaissance. Her work has appeared in Kenyon Review, Catapult, Roxane Gay’s The Audacity, Missouri Review, and elsewhere... Read More →

Sunday June 9, 2024 12:00pm - 1:00pm MDT
Zoom
  Fiction   Nonfiction/Memoir   Hybrid   Poetry   Publishing/Career

1:30pm MDT

Birth of Style
Register
We all know (sort of) what makes a good sentence, but where and when did that consensus emerge, and how has it changed? How is our idea of what makes “good writing” historically determined? How can we trace the history of the English language in every line we write today, and how would it improve our style if we did? In this class, we’ll tour the last 300 years of English prose writing—from lush romanticism to postwar minimalism to the witty urbanities of the fin de siècle—and we’ll emerge with a new sense of how time works on words (and how time is working on us).
Speakers
avatar for John Cotter

John Cotter

Instructor
John Cotter is the author of a memoir, Losing Music, forthcoming from Milkweed Editions, and Under the Small Lights, winner of the Miami University Press novella contest. His essays, theater pieces, and fiction have appeared, or will appear soon, in New England Review, Raritan, Georgia... Read More →

Sunday June 9, 2024 1:30pm - 3:30pm MDT
216
  Fiction   Nonfiction/Memoir   Poetry   Hybrid
 
Monday, June 10
 

12:00pm MDT

Lunchtime Business Panel: Selling Your Book—The Query Letter, Elevator Pitch, and More
Register
How do we turn the labors of our hearts into something that can be bought and sold? What happens when the book you've written isn't quite the book you can sell? How do you manage suggestions—in both fiction and nonfiction—that fly in the face of your original draft? Join publishing professionals and writers as they discuss the tools you need for submission (query, proposal, pitch), how to be successful in a competitive marketplace, and tips and tricks to cut down on rejections and make your work stand out.
Speakers
avatar for Marin Takikawa

Marin Takikawa

Agent
Marin Takikawa is an associate agent and the audio rights coordinator at The Friedrich Agency. Born in Tokyo and raised in Singapore and NYC, she joined TFA in early 2021 after getting her start as an assistant to three agents at Foundry Literary + Media, following internships at... Read More →
avatar for Abby Walters

Abby Walters

Agent
Abby Walters is a Literary Agent at leading publishing and entertainment agency Creative Artists Agency (CAA). Walters is based in the New York office and creates publishing opportunities across all agency departments. Some of her clients include Thao Thai, Honor Levy, Zoë Eisenberg... Read More →
avatar for Elissa Bassist

Elissa Bassist

Instructor
Elissa Bassist is the editor of the “Funny Women” column on The Rumpus and author of the tragicomic memoir Hysterical, a semifinalist for The Thurber Prize for American Humor. As a founding contributor to The Rumpus, she’s written cultural and personal criticism since the website... Read More →
avatar for Anna Qu

Anna Qu

Instructor
Anna Qu is a Chinese American writer. Her critically acclaimed debut memoir, Made In China: A Memoir of Love and Labor, was named a New York Times Editors’ Choice pick. Her work has appeared in Threepenny Review, Lumina, Kartika, Kweli, and Vol.1 Brooklyn, among others. She was... Read More →
avatar for Sarah Gerard

Sarah Gerard

Instructor
Sarah Gerard is the author, most recently, of the novel True Love. Her essay collection Sunshine State was a New York Times Editors’ Choice, a finalist for the Southern Book Prize, and was longlisted for the PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay. Her novel Binary... Read More →
avatar for Jan Thomas

Jan Thomas

Instructor
J.E. Thomas spent her early summers stuffing grocery bags with books at the local library, reading feverishly, then repeating the process week after week. So it's not surprising that she thinks books + imagination are the best streaming service around.  J.E. is an award-winning... Read More →

Monday June 10, 2024 12:00pm - 1:00pm MDT
Beacon Hall
  Fiction   Nonfiction/Memoir   Hybrid   Poetry   Publishing/Career

12:00pm MDT

Lunchtime Business Panel: Selling Your Book—The Query Letter, Elevator Pitch, and More (Livestream)
Register
How do we turn the labors of our hearts into something that can be bought and sold? What happens when the book you've written isn't quite the book you can sell? How do you manage suggestions—in both fiction and nonfiction—that fly in the face of your original draft? Join publishing professionals and writers as they discuss the tools you need for submission (query, proposal, pitch), how to be successful in a competitive marketplace, and tips and tricks to cut down on rejections and make your work stand out.
Speakers
avatar for Marin Takikawa

Marin Takikawa

Agent
Marin Takikawa is an associate agent and the audio rights coordinator at The Friedrich Agency. Born in Tokyo and raised in Singapore and NYC, she joined TFA in early 2021 after getting her start as an assistant to three agents at Foundry Literary + Media, following internships at... Read More →
avatar for Abby Walters

Abby Walters

Agent
Abby Walters is a Literary Agent at leading publishing and entertainment agency Creative Artists Agency (CAA). Walters is based in the New York office and creates publishing opportunities across all agency departments. Some of her clients include Thao Thai, Honor Levy, Zoë Eisenberg... Read More →
avatar for Elissa Bassist

Elissa Bassist

Instructor
Elissa Bassist is the editor of the “Funny Women” column on The Rumpus and author of the tragicomic memoir Hysterical, a semifinalist for The Thurber Prize for American Humor. As a founding contributor to The Rumpus, she’s written cultural and personal criticism since the website... Read More →
avatar for Anna Qu

Anna Qu

Instructor
Anna Qu is a Chinese American writer. Her critically acclaimed debut memoir, Made In China: A Memoir of Love and Labor, was named a New York Times Editors’ Choice pick. Her work has appeared in Threepenny Review, Lumina, Kartika, Kweli, and Vol.1 Brooklyn, among others. She was... Read More →
avatar for Sarah Gerard

Sarah Gerard

Instructor
Sarah Gerard is the author, most recently, of the novel True Love. Her essay collection Sunshine State was a New York Times Editors’ Choice, a finalist for the Southern Book Prize, and was longlisted for the PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay. Her novel Binary... Read More →
avatar for Jan Thomas

Jan Thomas

Instructor
J.E. Thomas spent her early summers stuffing grocery bags with books at the local library, reading feverishly, then repeating the process week after week. So it's not surprising that she thinks books + imagination are the best streaming service around.  J.E. is an award-winning... Read More →

Monday June 10, 2024 12:00pm - 1:00pm MDT
Zoom
  Fiction   Nonfiction/Memoir   Hybrid   Poetry   Publishing/Career

1:30pm MDT

Bad to the Bone: Writing Villains and Nefarious Characters
Register
Ahab, Nurse Ratched, Kurtz, Professor Moriarty, Cruella DeVil, Voldemort, Satan...No matter the genre, a great villain is a key ingredient to a badass story. But what if you don’t know who your villain is, or if it’s even a person at all? This class will outline types of villains and tips for creating the best (yet worst) ones. We’ll explore adversarial “worth,” antagonist agency and power, alternative value systems and character motivations, and villainous codes, quests, and wounds. Prepare to get bad so your story can get good. Open to all prose writers.
Speakers
avatar for Erika Krouse

Erika Krouse

Instructor
Erika Krouse has taught at Lighthouse since 2008; she is a Book Project mentor and a winner of the Lighthouse Beacon Award. Erika's recent memoir, Tell Me Everything: The Story of a Private Investigation, won the 2023 Edgar Award for Best Fact Crime and the 2023 Colorado Book Award... Read More →

Monday June 10, 2024 1:30pm - 3:30pm MDT
216
  Fiction   Nonfiction/Memoir   Hybrid   Dramatic Writing   YA/Children's

4:00pm MDT

Time Travel: Writing Flashback and Backstory
Register
Every character has a past, and often a troubled one. But how (and where, and when) do you bring that past to the page without slowing the story down? Through lecture, discussion, examples, and exercises, we’ll study techniques for using backstory and flashback and create a question-driven past narrative that actually drives your story forward. Open to all genres
Speakers
avatar for Erika Krouse

Erika Krouse

Instructor
Erika Krouse has taught at Lighthouse since 2008; she is a Book Project mentor and a winner of the Lighthouse Beacon Award. Erika's recent memoir, Tell Me Everything: The Story of a Private Investigation, won the 2023 Edgar Award for Best Fact Crime and the 2023 Colorado Book Award... Read More →

Monday June 10, 2024 4:00pm - 6:00pm MDT
304
  Fiction   Nonfiction/Memoir   Hybrid   Dramatic Writing   YA/Children's
 
Tuesday, June 11
 

12:00pm MDT

Lunchtime Business Panel: Literary Journals—The Inside Scoop
Register
You’ve made your story, essay, or poem the best it can be, and now you’re ready to get it published in a literary journal. How do you catch the eye of an editor? Our panel of journal editors from Poetry, Copper Nickel, Colorado Review, Virginia Quarerly Review, and more will chat about the submission process, what they look for in a piece, and mistakes to avoid when you’re sending out your work. You’ll leave better informed and inspired to submit.
Speakers
avatar for Angela Flores

Angela Flores

Editor
Angela Flores is a trans writer, editor, and Tin House scholar. Her work has appeared with Ploughshares, Academy of American Poets, and The Normal School. She currently serves as the assistant editor for Poetry magazine, and before joining Poetry, she served on the editorial board... Read More →
avatar for Allison Wright

Allison Wright

Editor
Allison Wright is the executive editor and publisher of the Virginia Quarterly Review. Her writing has appeared in the Atlantic, the Guardian Saturday Magazine, CNN, VQR, Popular Mechanics, the Texas Observer, Literary Hub, and elsewhere. She teaches media ethics and journalism... Read More →
avatar for Alexander Lumans

Alexander Lumans

Instructor
Alexander Lumans was awarded a 2018 NEA Creative Writing Grant in Fiction. He was also awarded a fellowship to the 2015 Arctic Circle Residency and was the Spring 2014 Philip Roth Resident at Bucknell University. His fiction and nonfiction have appeared in The Paris Review, Electric... Read More →
avatar for Jenny Wortman

Jenny Wortman

Panelist
Jennifer Wortman is the author of the short story collection This. This. This. Is. Love. Love. Love (Split/Lip Press, 2019) and a recipient of a 2020 National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellowship. Her fiction, essays, and poetry appear in TriQuarterly, Glimmer Train, Copper... Read More →
avatar for Dino Enrique Piacentini

Dino Enrique Piacentini

Instructor
Dino Enrique Piacentini grew up in Los Angeles, lived in San Francisco for twenty years, and has also, at various times, set down stakes in Houston, Oaxaca, Champaign, and Prague. His writing has been published in Gulf Coast, Confrontation, Pembroke, The Globe & Mail, The Atticus... Read More →
avatar for Harrison Fletcher

Harrison Fletcher

Instructor
Harrison Candelaria Fletcher is the author of the essay collection, Descanso for My Father, the memoir, Presentimiento: A Life in Dreams, and his newest, Finding Querencia: Essays from In Between. Recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship, Autumn... Read More →

Tuesday June 11, 2024 12:00pm - 1:00pm MDT
Beacon Hall
  Fiction   Nonfiction/Memoir   Hybrid   Poetry   Publishing/Career

12:00pm MDT

Lunchtime Business Panel: Literary Journals—The Inside Scoop (Livestream)
Register
You’ve made your story, essay, or poem the best it can be, and now you’re ready to get it published in a literary journal. How do you catch the eye of an editor? Our panel of journal editors from Poetry, Colorado Review, Virginia Quarterly Review, and elsewhere, will chat about the submission process, what they look for in a piece, and mistakes to avoid when you’re sending out your work. You’ll leave better informed and inspired to submit.
Speakers
avatar for Angela Flores

Angela Flores

Editor
Angela Flores is a trans writer, editor, and Tin House scholar. Her work has appeared with Ploughshares, Academy of American Poets, and The Normal School. She currently serves as the assistant editor for Poetry magazine, and before joining Poetry, she served on the editorial board... Read More →
avatar for Allison Wright

Allison Wright

Editor
Allison Wright is the executive editor and publisher of the Virginia Quarterly Review. Her writing has appeared in the Atlantic, the Guardian Saturday Magazine, CNN, VQR, Popular Mechanics, the Texas Observer, Literary Hub, and elsewhere. She teaches media ethics and journalism... Read More →
avatar for Alexander Lumans

Alexander Lumans

Instructor
Alexander Lumans was awarded a 2018 NEA Creative Writing Grant in Fiction. He was also awarded a fellowship to the 2015 Arctic Circle Residency and was the Spring 2014 Philip Roth Resident at Bucknell University. His fiction and nonfiction have appeared in The Paris Review, Electric... Read More →
avatar for Jenny Wortman

Jenny Wortman

Panelist
Jennifer Wortman is the author of the short story collection This. This. This. Is. Love. Love. Love (Split/Lip Press, 2019) and a recipient of a 2020 National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellowship. Her fiction, essays, and poetry appear in TriQuarterly, Glimmer Train, Copper... Read More →
avatar for Dino Enrique Piacentini

Dino Enrique Piacentini

Instructor
Dino Enrique Piacentini grew up in Los Angeles, lived in San Francisco for twenty years, and has also, at various times, set down stakes in Houston, Oaxaca, Champaign, and Prague. His writing has been published in Gulf Coast, Confrontation, Pembroke, The Globe & Mail, The Atticus... Read More →
avatar for Harrison Fletcher

Harrison Fletcher

Instructor
Harrison Candelaria Fletcher is the author of the essay collection, Descanso for My Father, the memoir, Presentimiento: A Life in Dreams, and his newest, Finding Querencia: Essays from In Between. Recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship, Autumn... Read More →

Tuesday June 11, 2024 12:00pm - 1:00pm MDT
Zoom
  Fiction   Nonfiction/Memoir   Hybrid   Poetry   Publishing/Career

1:30pm MDT

Everything But Plot: Building Suspense on the Line Level
Register
In this generative session, we'll engage in close readings of work in all genres and ask: what keeps us reading and moving forward? What delivers a chill? We'll investigate constructions of the line and the paragraph, asking after subtext and staging, POV and time shifts, dangling questions, and form. Come ready to experiment.
Speakers
avatar for T Kira Māhealani Madden

T Kira Māhealani Madden

Visiting Author
T Kira Māhealani Madden is a hapa-Kanaka Maoli writer, photographer, and amateur magician. She is the Founding Editor of No Tokens, a magazine of literature and art, and has received fellowships from MacDowell, Hedgebrook, Tin House, DISQUIET, NYSCA/NYFA, and Yaddo. Her debut memoir... Read More →

Tuesday June 11, 2024 1:30pm - 3:30pm MDT
Beacon Hall
  Fiction   Nonfiction/Memoir   Hybrid

1:30pm MDT

Everything But Plot: Building Suspense on the Line Level (Livestream)
Register
In this generative session, we'll engage in close readings of work in all genres and ask: what keeps us reading and moving forward? What delivers a chill? We'll investigate constructions of the line and the paragraph, asking after subtext and staging, POV and time shifts, dangling questions, and form. Come ready to experiment.
Speakers
avatar for T Kira Māhealani Madden

T Kira Māhealani Madden

Visiting Author
T Kira Māhealani Madden is a hapa-Kanaka Maoli writer, photographer, and amateur magician. She is the Founding Editor of No Tokens, a magazine of literature and art, and has received fellowships from MacDowell, Hedgebrook, Tin House, DISQUIET, NYSCA/NYFA, and Yaddo. Her debut memoir... Read More →

Tuesday June 11, 2024 1:30pm - 3:30pm MDT
Zoom
  Fiction   Nonfiction/Memoir   Hybrid

1:30pm MDT

The Messy Middle
Register
Your beginning rocks and has tons of forward momentum. You might even know what you want your ending to be. The problem, of course, is everything in the middle. Writing the “messy middle” can feel like trying to carry a king-sized mattress up twenty flights of stairs all alone. But you’re not alone! In this class, we’ll look at the most common messy-middle problems and how to identify them. Using strategic exercises, you’ll practice solid strategies to conquer and convert your messy middle into plot and prose that will propel you through your story. Open to all prose genres.
Speakers
avatar for Erika Krouse

Erika Krouse

Instructor
Erika Krouse has taught at Lighthouse since 2008; she is a Book Project mentor and a winner of the Lighthouse Beacon Award. Erika's recent memoir, Tell Me Everything: The Story of a Private Investigation, won the 2023 Edgar Award for Best Fact Crime and the 2023 Colorado Book Award... Read More →

Tuesday June 11, 2024 1:30pm - 3:30pm MDT
204
  Fiction   Nonfiction/Memoir   Hybrid   Dramatic Writing

1:30pm MDT

Nature Writing
Register
What can we learn about writing and also about the world from nature writing? This craft seminar will present examples from some classic texts—Thoreau's Walden, Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer, and others—to inspire short writing exercises that help grasp what is urgent and beautiful about nature writing.
Speakers
avatar for Amitava Kumar

Amitava Kumar

Visiting Author
Amitava Kumar is a writer and journalist who has published several works of nonfiction and three novels. His most recent title, The Blue Book: A Writer's Journal, is a collection of drawings and journal entries. Kumar's writing has appeared in Granta, The New York Times, Harper’s... Read More →

Tuesday June 11, 2024 1:30pm - 3:30pm MDT
316
  Fiction   Nonfiction/Memoir   Hybrid   Poetry

1:30pm MDT

Long Night's Journey into Day: Writing About Serious Illness (V)
Register
Writing through and about serious illness can not only create powerful poems, memoirs, and fiction, but it can help us integrate and learn from our experiences as patients, survivors, and caregivers. We'll explore how and when to write about our experiences through innovative writing prompts, narrative medicine resources, and steady practices that steer us away from retriggering ourselves and toward insights, wholeness, and resilience. We’ll investigate approaches to widen our perspective and give us the appropriate distance to write powerful poetry and prose while also concentrating on original, vibrant, and enduring specifics in our writing.
Speakers
avatar for Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg

Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg

Instructor
Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg, Ph.D, the 2009-13 Kansas Poet Laureate is the author of 24 books, including How Time Moves: New & Selected Poems; Miriam's Well, a novel; Needle in the Bone, a nonfiction book on the Holocaust; The Sky Begins At Your Feet: A Memoir on Cancer, Community, and... Read More →

Tuesday June 11, 2024 1:30pm - 3:30pm MDT
Zoom
  Fiction   Nonfiction/Memoir   Poetry   Hybrid   Dramatic Writing

4:00pm MDT

In Other Words: Narrative Styles
Register
Sometimes we show, and sometimes we tell. Sometimes we’re interior, and sometimes we’re exterior. Sometimes, we describe, and sometimes we imply. But when do we use which styles, and why? In this class, we’ll explore six types of narrative styles: scene, exposition, description, interiority, dialogue, and “voiceyness.” We’ll talk about the assets and challenges of each style and explore techniques to use them to their best advantage in your writing. Writers can expect discussion, examples, and writing exercises. Open to all prose writers.
Speakers
avatar for Erika Krouse

Erika Krouse

Instructor
Erika Krouse has taught at Lighthouse since 2008; she is a Book Project mentor and a winner of the Lighthouse Beacon Award. Erika's recent memoir, Tell Me Everything: The Story of a Private Investigation, won the 2023 Edgar Award for Best Fact Crime and the 2023 Colorado Book Award... Read More →

Tuesday June 11, 2024 4:00pm - 6:00pm MDT
216
  Fiction   Nonfiction/Memoir   Hybrid   YA/Children's

4:00pm MDT

Getting to the Finish Line
Register
All writers, from beginners to professionals, go through periods when it seems impossible to complete a project, no matter how much we love it and want to see it out in the world. In this seminar, we’ll explore what holds us back, the reasons we have trouble focusing on our writing projects (even when we easily check other items off our “to-do” list), and how to prioritize writing with a goal toward project completion. We’ll also do some exercises to help you address your specific barriers and overcome them.
Speakers
avatar for Cynthia Swanson

Cynthia Swanson

Instructor
Cynthia Swanson writes literary suspense, often using historical settings. Cynthia’s debut novel, The Bookseller, was a New York Times best seller, an Indie Next selection, the winner of the 2016 WILLA Literary Award for Historical Fiction, and is translated into 18 languages. The... Read More →

Tuesday June 11, 2024 4:00pm - 6:00pm MDT
304
  Fiction   Nonfiction/Memoir   Poetry   Hybrid   Dramatic Writing   Publishing/Career   YA/Children's

7:00pm MDT

Visiting Authors Reading with T Kira Māhealani Madden, Claire Messud, Jenny Offill, and Rowan Ricardo Phillips
Register
Hear your favorite visiting author perform their recent works. Shop at the Lit Fest pop-up bookstore operated by The Bookies and get your book signed afterward.
Tuesday June 11, 2024 7:00pm - 8:15pm MDT
Beacon Hall
  Fiction   Nonfiction/Memoir   Hybrid   Poetry

7:00pm MDT

Visiting Authors Reading with T Kira Māhealani Madden, Claire Messud, Jenny Offill, and Rowan Ricardo Phillips (Livestream)
Register
Hear your favorite visiting author perform their recent works. Shop at the Lit Fest pop-up bookstore operated by The Bookies and get your book signed afterward.
Tuesday June 11, 2024 7:00pm - 8:15pm MDT
Zoom
  Fiction   Nonfiction/Memoir   Hybrid   Poetry
 
Wednesday, June 12
 

12:00pm MDT

Lunchtime Business Panel: State of the Industry
Register
Publishing and television continue to be industries facing rapidly changing trends and challenges, so what does the landscape look like now? Join four industry experts as they discuss the latest industry news and what it means for authors and screenwriters, published and aspiring alike.
Speakers
avatar for Raluca Albu

Raluca Albu

Panelist
Raluca Albu is the communications director of the Authors Guild, the oldest and largest professional organization for published writers. They advocate for the legal rights of authors by supporting fair publishing and freelance writing contracts, copyright protection and free speech... Read More →
avatar for Kayla Lightner

Kayla Lightner

Agent
Kayla is an agent at Ayesha Pande Literary. Before joining the APL team in 2020, Kayla started her career at Liza Dawson Associates. She also managed APL’s subsidiary rights department for two years before transitioning to full-time agent. Her client list includes multi-award-winning... Read More →
avatar for Amy Bishop-Wycisk

Amy Bishop-Wycisk

Agent
Amy Bishop-Wycisk (why-zick) joined Trellis Literary Management in 2023 after eight years with Dystel, Goderich & Bourret. She represents a wide-ranging list in fiction, nonfiction, and YA. Across the board, she has a special interest in underrepresented voices, especially from the... Read More →
avatar for Danielle Bukowski

Danielle Bukowski

Agent
Danielle Bukowski is a literary agent at Sterling Lord Literistic, representing award-winning, critically-acclaimed, nationally bestselling fiction and nonfiction.She is looking for literary fiction, upmarket fiction, nonfiction and SFF. She particularly wants to hear from writers... Read More →
avatar for Dean Bakopoulos

Dean Bakopoulos

Visiting Author
Dean Bakopoulos is the author of the novels Please Don't Come Back from the Moon (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), My American Unhappiness (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), and Summerlong (Ecco/HarperCollins). The winner of a Guggenheim Fellowship and NEA fellowships in both fiction and creative... Read More →
avatar for Shana Kelly

Shana Kelly

Instructor
Shana Kelly started her career as a literary agent at the William Morris Agency in New York and London, where she sold foreign and British rights for the agency for ten years. Shana was the signing agent for many successful authors, including New York Times bestseller Curtis Sittenfeld... Read More →

Wednesday June 12, 2024 12:00pm - 1:00pm MDT
Beacon Hall
  Fiction   Nonfiction/Memoir   Hybrid   Poetry   Publishing/Career   Screenwriting

12:00pm MDT

Lunchtime Business Panel: State of the Industry (Livestream)
Register
Publishing and television continue to be industries facing rapidly changing trends and challenges, so what does the landscape look like now? Join four industry experts as they discuss the latest industry news and what it means for authors and screenwriters, published and aspiring alike.
Speakers
avatar for Raluca Albu

Raluca Albu

Panelist
Raluca Albu is the communications director of the Authors Guild, the oldest and largest professional organization for published writers. They advocate for the legal rights of authors by supporting fair publishing and freelance writing contracts, copyright protection and free speech... Read More →
avatar for Kayla Lightner

Kayla Lightner

Agent
Kayla is an agent at Ayesha Pande Literary. Before joining the APL team in 2020, Kayla started her career at Liza Dawson Associates. She also managed APL’s subsidiary rights department for two years before transitioning to full-time agent. Her client list includes multi-award-winning... Read More →
avatar for Amy Bishop-Wycisk

Amy Bishop-Wycisk

Agent
Amy Bishop-Wycisk (why-zick) joined Trellis Literary Management in 2023 after eight years with Dystel, Goderich & Bourret. She represents a wide-ranging list in fiction, nonfiction, and YA. Across the board, she has a special interest in underrepresented voices, especially from the... Read More →
avatar for Danielle Bukowski

Danielle Bukowski

Agent
Danielle Bukowski is a literary agent at Sterling Lord Literistic, representing award-winning, critically-acclaimed, nationally bestselling fiction and nonfiction.She is looking for literary fiction, upmarket fiction, nonfiction and SFF. She particularly wants to hear from writers... Read More →
avatar for Dean Bakopoulos

Dean Bakopoulos

Visiting Author
Dean Bakopoulos is the author of the novels Please Don't Come Back from the Moon (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), My American Unhappiness (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), and Summerlong (Ecco/HarperCollins). The winner of a Guggenheim Fellowship and NEA fellowships in both fiction and creative... Read More →
avatar for Shana Kelly

Shana Kelly

Instructor
Shana Kelly started her career as a literary agent at the William Morris Agency in New York and London, where she sold foreign and British rights for the agency for ten years. Shana was the signing agent for many successful authors, including New York Times bestseller Curtis Sittenfeld... Read More →

Wednesday June 12, 2024 12:00pm - 1:00pm MDT
Zoom
  Fiction   Nonfiction/Memoir   Hybrid   Poetry   Publishing/Career   Screenwriting

1:30pm MDT

On Defamiliarization: A Lesson in 10 Sentences
Register
“Art exists to help us recover the sensation of life; it exists to make us feel things, to make the stone stony again. The end of art is to give a sensation of the object seen, not as recognized.
Victor Shklovsky
In this craft seminar, we'll explore how to describe the world around us without resorting to commonplace imagery or received sentiments. Our intent will be to make the familiar unfamiliar through acts of careful attention. We'll look at the process of defamiliarization at both the sentence and the paragraph level, and then use these images and descriptions as springboards for our own writing.
Speakers
avatar for Jenny Offill

Jenny Offill

Visiting Author
Offill's 2020 novel, Weather, is the story of confronting, both directly and less so, looming climate catastrophe . The book was described as “emotional, planetary, and very turbulent, “ by the New York Times, “utterly exhilarating in its wit and intelligence” by the Boston... Read More →

Wednesday June 12, 2024 1:30pm - 3:30pm MDT
Beacon Hall
  Fiction   Nonfiction/Memoir   Hybrid

1:30pm MDT

On Defamiliarization: A Lesson in 10 Sentences (Livestream)
Register
“Art exists to help us recover the sensation of life; it exists to make us feel things, to make the stone stony again. The end of art is to give a sensation of the object seen, not as recognized.
Victor Shklovsky
In this craft seminar, we'll explore how to describe the world around us without resorting to commonplace imagery or received sentiments. Our intent will be to make the familiar unfamiliar through acts of careful attention. We'll look at the process of defamiliarization at both the sentence and the paragraph level, and then use these images and descriptions as springboards for our own writing.
Speakers
avatar for Jenny Offill

Jenny Offill

Visiting Author
Offill's 2020 novel, Weather, is the story of confronting, both directly and less so, looming climate catastrophe . The book was described as “emotional, planetary, and very turbulent, “ by the New York Times, “utterly exhilarating in its wit and intelligence” by the Boston... Read More →

Wednesday June 12, 2024 1:30pm - 3:30pm MDT
Zoom
  Fiction   Nonfiction/Memoir   Hybrid

1:30pm MDT

Memory Fog: Getting Lost in Order to Write and Remember
Register
Memory can be tricky and elusive. You can have an idea for a story arc, an image for a poem, or a telling line for the essay, but then it disappears like a vivid dream later in the day. However, what is lost can be found. In this multi-genre workshop, we'll look at short poems and prose by contemporary writers and discuss the process of incorporating reflection, authorial interruptions, flashbacks, and knowing when to leap. We'll also write and get a little lost by considering moments of question, rediscovery, and wandering with purpose.
Speakers
avatar for Juan J. Morales

Juan J. Morales

Instructor
Juan J. Morales is the son of an Ecuadorian mother and Puerto Rican father. He is the author of three poetry collections, including The Handyman’s Guide to End Times, winner of the 2019 International Latino Book Award. Recent poems have appeared in Crazyhorse, The Laurel Review... Read More →

Wednesday June 12, 2024 1:30pm - 3:30pm MDT
216
  Nonfiction/Memoir   Poetry   Hybrid

4:00pm MDT

Psychoanalysis and Literature
Register
The world of the mind has forever mesmerized both psychoanalysts and writers. Both fields have been obsessed with understanding the human being, both as an individual/self and in relation to others. In this course we'll look at the intersections of the two disciplines and discuss how they approach questions of language, dreams, stream of consciousness, addressing trauma, and else. In class, we'll also partake in some exercises that use methods of psychoanalysis to generate writing.
Speakers
avatar for Poupeh Missaghi

Poupeh Missaghi

Instructor
Poupeh Missaghi is a writer, a translator both into and out of Persian, Asymptote’s Iran editor-at-large, and an educator. Her debut novel trans(re)lating house one was published by Coffee House Press in February 2020. She holds a PhD in English and creative writing from the University... Read More →

Wednesday June 12, 2024 4:00pm - 6:00pm MDT
216
  Fiction   Nonfiction/Memoir   Hybrid

5:30pm MDT

Musical Story Hour
Register
Our signature Story Hour returns: this year kick back in the floral courtyard next to Lighthouse HQ and listen to local singer/songwriters perform and then tell the story behind the song(s). We'll have on hand some inspiring appetizers (meat and veggie tacos, churros for dessert) and drinks (margaritas, soft drinks, and wine/beer). This year's lineup is Kayla Marque, Joshua Abeyta from Los Mocochetes, and Martin Gilmore.
Wednesday June 12, 2024 5:30pm - 6:45pm MDT
Lighthouse HQ
  Fiction   Nonfiction/Memoir   Hybrid   Poetry

7:00pm MDT

Visiting Author Reading with Dean Bakopoulos, Mark Doty, Maurice Carlos Ruffin, Amitava Kumar
Register
Hear your favorite visiting author perform their recent works. Shop at the Lit Fest pop-up bookstore operated by The Bookies and get your book signed afterward.
Wednesday June 12, 2024 7:00pm - 8:15pm MDT
Beacon Hall
  Fiction   Nonfiction/Memoir   Hybrid   Poetry

7:00pm MDT

Visiting Author Reading with Dean Bakopoulos, Mark Doty, Maurice Carlos Ruffin, Amitava Kumar (Livestream)
Register
Hear your favorite visiting author perform their recent works. Shop at the Lit Fest pop-up bookstore operated by The Bookies and get your book signed afterward.
Wednesday June 12, 2024 7:00pm - 8:15pm MDT
Zoom
  Fiction   Nonfiction/Memoir   Hybrid   Poetry
 
Thursday, June 13
 

12:00pm MDT

Lunchtime Business Panel: Online Landscape for Writers
Register
Amidst the death throes of print media, the overnight rise and fall of legacy websites, trend-chasing on social media, and the proliferation of subscription-based newsletters, it’s as difficult as ever for authors to know where to put their energy and what to avoid. Join three writers and an agent for a conversation on the different ways of being online and how they can benefit you during different stages of your career, from learning about what agents are looking for to spreading the word about your work.
Speakers
avatar for Simone Stolzoff

Simone Stolzoff

Panelist
Simone Stolzoff is an author and journalist from San Francisco. A former design lead at the global innovation firm IDEO, his work has been featured in The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Wall Street Journal, and various other publications. His debut book The Good Enough Job: R... Read More →
avatar for Mitzi Rapkin

Mitzi Rapkin

Podcaster
Mitzi Rapkin is the host and producer of the literary podcast, First Draft: A Dialogue on Writing.  This June marks the 11th anniversary of the show.  First Draft features fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and essay writers.  Rapkin and her guests explore literary craft, the decisions... Read More →
avatar for Robbie Couch

Robbie Couch

Panelist
Robbie Couch writes young-adult fiction. If I See You Again Tomorrow, his New York Times bestselling third novel, has received starred reviews from Publisher's Weekly, Booklist, and the Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books. Robbie's debut, The Sky Blues, was a Barnes & Noble... Read More →
avatar for Courtney Maum

Courtney Maum

Panelist
Courtney is the author of five books, including the groundbreaking publishing guide that Vanity Fair recently named one of the ten best books for writers, Before and After the Book Deal and the memoir The Year of the Horses, chosen by The Today Show as the best read for mental health... Read More →
avatar for Erika T. Wurth

Erika T. Wurth

Erika T. Wurth’s publications include three novels, White Horse, Crazy Horse’s Girlfriend, and You Who Enter Here, two collections of poetry and a collection of short stories, Buckskin Cocaine. A writer of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, she teaches creative writing at Western... Read More →
avatar for R. Alan Brooks

R. Alan Brooks

Instructor
R. Alan Brooks teaches graphic novel writing at Regis University, and is the writer/creator of The Burning Metronome graphic novel, a supernatural murder mystery with social commentary. He also hosts the popular “MotherF**ker In A Cape” comics podcast, which focuses on marginalized... Read More →

Thursday June 13, 2024 12:00pm - 1:00pm MDT
Beacon Hall
  Fiction   Nonfiction/Memoir   Hybrid   Poetry   Publishing/Career

12:00pm MDT

Lunchtime Business Panel: Online Landscape for Writers (Livestream)
Register
Amidst the death throes of print media, the overnight rise and fall of legacy websites, trend-chasing on social media, and the proliferation of subscription-based newsletters, it’s as difficult as ever for authors to know where to put their energy and what to avoid. Join three writers and an agent for a conversation on the different ways of being online and how they can benefit you during different stages of your career, from learning about what agents are looking for to spreading the word about your work.
Speakers
avatar for Simone Stolzoff

Simone Stolzoff

Panelist
Simone Stolzoff is an author and journalist from San Francisco. A former design lead at the global innovation firm IDEO, his work has been featured in The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Wall Street Journal, and various other publications. His debut book The Good Enough Job: R... Read More →
avatar for Mitzi Rapkin

Mitzi Rapkin

Podcaster
Mitzi Rapkin is the host and producer of the literary podcast, First Draft: A Dialogue on Writing.  This June marks the 11th anniversary of the show.  First Draft features fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and essay writers.  Rapkin and her guests explore literary craft, the decisions... Read More →
avatar for Robbie Couch

Robbie Couch

Panelist
Robbie Couch writes young-adult fiction. If I See You Again Tomorrow, his New York Times bestselling third novel, has received starred reviews from Publisher's Weekly, Booklist, and the Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books. Robbie's debut, The Sky Blues, was a Barnes & Noble... Read More →
avatar for Courtney Maum

Courtney Maum

Panelist
Courtney is the author of five books, including the groundbreaking publishing guide that Vanity Fair recently named one of the ten best books for writers, Before and After the Book Deal and the memoir The Year of the Horses, chosen by The Today Show as the best read for mental health... Read More →
avatar for Erika T. Wurth

Erika T. Wurth

Erika T. Wurth’s publications include three novels, White Horse, Crazy Horse’s Girlfriend, and You Who Enter Here, two collections of poetry and a collection of short stories, Buckskin Cocaine. A writer of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, she teaches creative writing at Western... Read More →
avatar for R. Alan Brooks

R. Alan Brooks

Instructor
R. Alan Brooks teaches graphic novel writing at Regis University, and is the writer/creator of The Burning Metronome graphic novel, a supernatural murder mystery with social commentary. He also hosts the popular “MotherF**ker In A Cape” comics podcast, which focuses on marginalized... Read More →

Thursday June 13, 2024 12:00pm - 1:00pm MDT
Zoom
  Fiction   Nonfiction/Memoir   Hybrid   Poetry   Publishing/Career

1:30pm MDT

Revising for Social Change (V)
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Revision necessitates change, and change is everywhere in the writing process. It happens when we give ourselves space to grapple with a topic. It emerges in workshop when others contribute opposing views. It evolves because the world in which the piece was written has been fundamentally altered. Revision isn’t always about making things “better.” Sometimes, it's just about the complication of an idea. Sometimes, it’s about allowing for the complexity and the chaos. Revision is about grappling with the material, our audience, ourselves, and the world. This seminar will focus on the art of revision for social change.
Speakers
avatar for Angelique Stevens

Angelique Stevens

Instructor
Angelique Stevens lives in Upstate New York where she teaches creative writing, literature of genocide, and race literatures. Her nonfiction has been published or is forthcoming in Granta, LitHub, The New England Review, and a number of anthologies. Her essay “Ghost Bread,” which... Read More →

Thursday June 13, 2024 1:30pm - 3:30pm MDT
Zoom
  Fiction   Nonfiction/Memoir   Hybrid

1:30pm MDT

Collaging the Draft
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In this generative class, each participant will be given an envelope with fifteen magazine, news, book, art, and textile clippings. Step by step, you’ll learn how to collage a draft of a text taking form in their subconscious mind and translate the visual into the verbal through emotion, intuition, and stimulation.
Speakers
NK

Nazli Koca

Instructor

Thursday June 13, 2024 1:30pm - 3:30pm MDT
215
  Fiction   Nonfiction/Memoir   Hybrid   Poetry   Dramatic Writing

1:30pm MDT

Writing Desire and Sexuality
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Delving into the erotic is not an easy task for many writers. But as Audre Lorde notes, “The erotic is a resource within each of us that lies in a deeply female and spiritual plane, firmly rooted in the power of our unexpressed or unrecognized feeling.” In this course, we'll look at some works that directly address human desire and sexuality and discuss how their craft choices enable the writers to connect their audiences with an aspect of humanity that is more often oppressed and repressed than welcomed and embraced.
Speakers
avatar for Poupeh Missaghi

Poupeh Missaghi

Instructor
Poupeh Missaghi is a writer, a translator both into and out of Persian, Asymptote’s Iran editor-at-large, and an educator. Her debut novel trans(re)lating house one was published by Coffee House Press in February 2020. She holds a PhD in English and creative writing from the University... Read More →

Thursday June 13, 2024 1:30pm - 3:30pm MDT
315
  Fiction   Nonfiction/Memoir   Poetry   Hybrid

4:00pm MDT

The Devil Made Me Do It: Using Folktale Forms to Structure Your Writing
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The oldest story forms provide potent templates for structuring new work. Learn about the elements of a classic devil story and how contemporary writers such as Emily St. John Mandel and Colson Whitehead have incorporated its charms. Study notable features of ghost stories and see how writers such as Jesmyn Ward and Silvia Moreno-Garcia have crafted haunting fiction. We'll examine several folk and fairytale forms and use these as guides toward writing own new classics.
Speakers
avatar for Jenny Shank

Jenny Shank

Instructor
Jenny Shank's short story collection, Mixed Company, won the George Garrett Fiction Prize and is a finalist for the Colorado Book Award (General Fiction). Jenny Shank's novel, The Ringer, won the High Plains Book Award in fiction, was a finalist for the Mountains & Plains Independent... Read More →

Thursday June 13, 2024 4:00pm - 6:00pm MDT
216
  Fiction   Nonfiction/Memoir   Hybrid

4:00pm MDT

Experimental Prose
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What would happen if we refused to limit ourselves to what is considered the “right” way to tell a story? Let’s move beyond traditional and mainstream modes of narrative. Let’s allow ourselves to experiment with language and the page. Let’s start from a place of flexibility and fluidity rather than rigidity and fixed rules. We'll look at some models that go beyond definitions of genre and take risks in redefining the interrelationship of content and form. There will be prompts to invite participants to start their own experimentations.
Speakers
avatar for Poupeh Missaghi

Poupeh Missaghi

Instructor
Poupeh Missaghi is a writer, a translator both into and out of Persian, Asymptote’s Iran editor-at-large, and an educator. Her debut novel trans(re)lating house one was published by Coffee House Press in February 2020. She holds a PhD in English and creative writing from the University... Read More →

Thursday June 13, 2024 4:00pm - 6:00pm MDT
315
  Fiction   Nonfiction/Memoir   Poetry   Hybrid

7:00pm MDT

Visiting Authors Reading with Steve Almond, Emily Rapp Black, Danielle Evans, and Beth Nguyen
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Hear your favorite visiting author perform their recent works. Shop at the Lit Fest pop-up bookstore operated by The Bookies and get your book signed afterward.
Thursday June 13, 2024 7:00pm - 8:15pm MDT
Beacon Hall
  Fiction   Nonfiction/Memoir   Hybrid   Poetry

7:00pm MDT

Visiting Authors Reading with Steve Almond, Emily Rapp Black, Danielle Evans, and Beth Nguyen (Livestream)
Register
Hear your favorite visiting author perform their recent works. Shop at the Lit Fest pop-up bookstore operated by The Bookies and get your book signed afterward.
Thursday June 13, 2024 7:00pm - 8:15pm MDT
Zoom
  Fiction   Nonfiction/Memoir   Hybrid   Poetry
 
Friday, June 14
 

12:00pm MDT

Lunchtime Business Panel: Perfect Pairing
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As the publishing industry continues to change, the relationship between an author and her agent can make or break a career. Join authors Wendy Chen and Shelly Read and their agents, Sarah Bowlin and Sandra Bond, as they talk about how they’re navigating the choppy waters of publishing together.
Speakers
avatar for Sandra Bond

Sandra Bond

Agent
TV deprived growing up in the 60s, Sandra and her two siblings read books. Voraciously. The big event was going to the library once a week. As an adult, she wanted to be involved in the wondrous business of discovering and bringing stories to the world and, not a creative writer herself... Read More →
avatar for Shelley Read

Shelley Read

Shelley Read's internationally bestselling debut novel, Go As A River, is being translated intoover thirty languages and has been optioned for film by Mazur Kaplan in partnership withFifth Season. An instant Sunday Times bestseller, Go As A River is also a 2023 AmazonEditor's Pick... Read More →
avatar for Sarah Bowlin

Sarah Bowlin

Agent
Sarah Bowlin is a senior agent at Aevitas Creative Management which she joined in 2017. Before becoming an agent, she was an editor of literary fiction and nonfiction at Riverhead Books and Henry Holt & Company where she edited the acclaimed writers Juan Gabriel Vásquez, Sheila Heti... Read More →
avatar for Wendy Chen

Wendy Chen

Instructor
Wendy Chen is the author of the novel Their Divine Fires (Algonquin) and the poetry collection Unearthings (Tavern Books). She is the editor of Figure 1, associate editor-in-chief of Tupelo Quarterly, and prose editor of Tupelo Press. Her poetry translations of Song-dynasty... Read More →
avatar for Shana Kelly

Shana Kelly

Instructor
Shana Kelly started her career as a literary agent at the William Morris Agency in New York and London, where she sold foreign and British rights for the agency for ten years. Shana was the signing agent for many successful authors, including New York Times bestseller Curtis Sittenfeld... Read More →

Friday June 14, 2024 12:00pm - 1:00pm MDT
Beacon Hall
  Fiction   Nonfiction/Memoir   Hybrid   Poetry   Publishing/Career

12:00pm MDT

Lunchtime Business Panel: Perfect Pairing (Livestream)
Register
As the publishing industry continues to change, the relationship between an author and her agent can make or break a career. Join authors Wendy Chen and Shelly Read and their agents, Sarah Bowlin and Sandra Bond, as they talk about how they’re navigating the choppy waters of publishing together.
Speakers
avatar for Sandra Bond

Sandra Bond

Agent
TV deprived growing up in the 60s, Sandra and her two siblings read books. Voraciously. The big event was going to the library once a week. As an adult, she wanted to be involved in the wondrous business of discovering and bringing stories to the world and, not a creative writer herself... Read More →
avatar for Shelley Read

Shelley Read

Shelley Read's internationally bestselling debut novel, Go As A River, is being translated intoover thirty languages and has been optioned for film by Mazur Kaplan in partnership withFifth Season. An instant Sunday Times bestseller, Go As A River is also a 2023 AmazonEditor's Pick... Read More →
avatar for Sarah Bowlin

Sarah Bowlin

Agent
Sarah Bowlin is a senior agent at Aevitas Creative Management which she joined in 2017. Before becoming an agent, she was an editor of literary fiction and nonfiction at Riverhead Books and Henry Holt & Company where she edited the acclaimed writers Juan Gabriel Vásquez, Sheila Heti... Read More →
avatar for Wendy Chen

Wendy Chen

Instructor
Wendy Chen is the author of the novel Their Divine Fires (Algonquin) and the poetry collection Unearthings (Tavern Books). She is the editor of Figure 1, associate editor-in-chief of Tupelo Quarterly, and prose editor of Tupelo Press. Her poetry translations of Song-dynasty... Read More →
avatar for Shana Kelly

Shana Kelly

Instructor
Shana Kelly started her career as a literary agent at the William Morris Agency in New York and London, where she sold foreign and British rights for the agency for ten years. Shana was the signing agent for many successful authors, including New York Times bestseller Curtis Sittenfeld... Read More →

Friday June 14, 2024 12:00pm - 1:00pm MDT
Zoom
  Fiction   Nonfiction/Memoir   Hybrid   Poetry   Publishing/Career

1:30pm MDT

Evoking Our Haunts: On Persons, Places, and Finding Voice
Register
A ghost is often created out of trauma or deep emotions—a haunting of place or person, seeking a witness to form and voice. In this seminar, we'll explore possibilities of homes for our ghosts, from sestina to erasure, lyric essays to prose poetry. What’s haunting you, and what can’t you seem to dispel? Together, let’s evoke our own powerful words to better understand what lingers beyond the veil and our own rituals for words.
Speakers
avatar for Hillary Leftwich

Hillary Leftwich

Instructor
Hillary Leftwich is the author of two books, Ghosts Are Just Strangers Who Know How to Knock (Agape Editions, 2023, new edition) and Aura (Future Tense Books and Blackstone Audio Publishing, 2022), and a collection of experimental forms TBA. She owns Alchemy Author Services and Writing... Read More →

Friday June 14, 2024 1:30pm - 3:30pm MDT
215
  Fiction   Nonfiction/Memoir   Poetry   Hybrid
 
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