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Friday, June 12
 

9:00am MDT

Hike and Write: Urban Style
Friday June 12, 2026 9:00am - 11:00am MDT
The tradition of nature writing goes back to the Romantics and before, most likely because we are creatures of place. In this hands-on and feet-walking session, we'll explore some of the 'natural' settings just outside of Lighthouse, using the landscape as inspiration, and see what we find, and what the world around us has to say. We won't be walking miles on end, but please wear comfortable shoes, a good hat, and sunscreen. We'll walk around the 39th Avenue Greenway for a time, and then settle back into the air conditioned comfort of 3844 York Street to share and perhaps dig a little deeper.
Speakers
avatar for Michael Henry

Michael Henry

Faculty
Michael J. Henry, MFA currently serves as Executive Director of Lighthouse, where he also teaches poetry and memoir and essay workshops. A former recipient of a Colorado Council on the Arts Fellowship and a PlatteForum Fellowship, his work has appeared in such places as Copper Nickel... Read More →
Friday June 12, 2026 9:00am - 11:00am MDT
Lighthouse Writers Workshop

9:00am MDT

Beginnings, Middles and Ends: The 9 Parts of Your Story
Friday June 12, 2026 9:00am - 11:00am MDT
Stumped by all the novel structures out there? So was I, until I heard someone say "end of the middle" and it made me start thinking of the novel I'm revising in 9 parts: the beginning, middle, and end of the beginning; the beginning, middle, and end of the middle; and the beginning, middle, and end of the end. This class will explore using these 9 parts as a simple (okay, simpler, way) to build the spine of your story. The goal will be to KISS (keep it simple, scribe!), but we'll also discuss ways to incorporate elements of other common western story structures (such as Hero's Journey, Save the Cat!, Storygrid, and 3-act, 4-act, and 5-act structures).
Speakers
avatar for Carleen Brice

Carleen Brice

Faculty
Carleen Brice's debut novel, Orange Mint and Honey, is the basis for the NAACP Image Award-winning Lifetime TV movie "Sins of the Mother" starring Jill Scott and Nicole Beharie. Orange Mint and Honey was also an Essence "Recommended Read" and a Target "Bookmarked Breakout Book." For... Read More →
Friday June 12, 2026 9:00am - 11:00am MDT
Lighthouse Writers Workshop

9:00am MDT

Getting Unstuck
Friday June 12, 2026 9:00am - 11:00am MDT
Does it sometimes seem like your novel is trying to kill you? Have you considered divorcing a story? Me too. Being a writer means coming up against self-doubt. But what if it doesn't have to be so defeating? What if the blank page felt more like an invitation than a cliff? In this gathering we will work through a few exercises designed to bring joy and a sense of possibility and invention so that you and your writing will once again be besties (or at least unlikely to murder each other).

This is the in-person version of this event.
Speakers
avatar for Ramona Ausubel

Ramona Ausubel

Faculty
Ramona Ausubel grew up in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Her newest novel, The Last Animal, received a Science + Literature Prize from the National Book Foundation and was a National Bestseller and a Barnes & Noble monthly pick. Her newest book will be out in Spring, 2026. Unstuck: 101 Doorways... Read More →
Friday June 12, 2026 9:00am - 11:00am MDT
Lighthouse Writers Workshop

9:00am MDT

Getting Unstuck (Livestream)
Friday June 12, 2026 9:00am - 11:00am MDT
Does it sometimes seem like your novel is trying to kill you? Have you considered divorcing a story? Me too. Being a writer means coming up against self-doubt. But what if it doesn't have to be so defeating? What if the blank page felt more like an invitation than a cliff? In this gathering we will work through a few exercises designed to bring joy and a sense of possibility and invention so that you and your writing will once again be besties (or at least unlikely to murder each other).

This is the livestream version of this event.
Speakers
avatar for Ramona Ausubel

Ramona Ausubel

Faculty
Ramona Ausubel grew up in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Her newest novel, The Last Animal, received a Science + Literature Prize from the National Book Foundation and was a National Bestseller and a Barnes & Noble monthly pick. Her newest book will be out in Spring, 2026. Unstuck: 101 Doorways... Read More →
Friday June 12, 2026 9:00am - 11:00am MDT
Virtual

9:00am MDT

How to Work with Narrative Time
Friday June 12, 2026 9:00am - 11:00am MDT
In our novels, we control how quickly or slowly time passes for our readers. We can compress several decades of events into a couple of paragraphs, or we can let an entire chapter linger on a single scene. Managing narrative time is an essential (and often overlooked) storytelling skill. In this seminar, we’ll hone that skill by deepening our understanding of sequence, pacing, and flashback, among other temporal devices, while also learning how we might orchestrate different “time signatures” to enhance both meaning and beauty in our writing.
Speakers
avatar for Andrea Bobotis

Andrea Bobotis

Faculty
Andrea Bobotis is the author of the debut novel The Last List of Miss Judith Kratt. A native of South Carolina, she holds a PhD in English literature from the University of Virginia, where she was honored with the All-University Graduate Teaching Award. Her fiction has received support... Read More →
Friday June 12, 2026 9:00am - 11:00am MDT
Lighthouse Writers Workshop

9:00am MDT

The Art of Constraints: Setting Limits to Set Ourselves Free
Friday June 12, 2026 9:00am - 11:00am MDT
As Oulipo Writer Georges Perec says, “I set myself rules in order to be totally free.” In this seminar, we’ll follow Perec’s logic: working with writing constraints so our prose can emerge more forceful and more honed from the first draft on. We’ll read examples of contemporary writers who use (or appear to use) different constraints in their fiction and nonfiction. We’ll dissect how and why constraints are of great use to any writer. And we’ll get a chance to try our own constraints via fun prompts. Even if you’ve never worked with constraints before, this class is still for you.
Speakers
avatar for Alexander Lumans

Alexander Lumans

Editor
Alexander Lumans was awarded a 2018 NEA Creative Writing Grant in Fiction. He received fellowships in 2015 and 2024 for expeditions with The Arctic Circle Residency and he was the Spring 2014 Philip Roth Resident at Bucknell University. His fiction and nonfiction have appeared in... Read More →
Friday June 12, 2026 9:00am - 11:00am MDT
Lighthouse Writers Workshop

9:00am MDT

Memoir: What's Research Got to Do With It?
Friday June 12, 2026 9:00am - 11:00am MDT
Memoir and personal essay may seem far removed from the world of Google Scholar, articles with citations, surveys, news databases, historical archives, theoretical texts, and other resources frequently used by academic researchers. As a memoirist and essayist who also just published a scholarly book, I’ll lead you through a diverse toolbox of research resources, as well as discuss ways that epistemology can add depth, surprise, and gravitas to your personal writing. Research often illuminates the "So What?" of a memoir. You'll also get some practical, judgement-free advice on generative AI and chatbots, and how they can help, hurt, expand, and /or limit your research process. We'll embark on a research journey to add a new dimension to your work-in-progress by the end of this workshop.
Speakers
avatar for Angie Chuang

Angie Chuang

Faculty
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 →
Friday June 12, 2026 9:00am - 11:00am MDT
Lighthouse Writers Workshop

9:00am MDT

Where's the Conflict?
Friday June 12, 2026 9:00am - 11:00am MDT
A deep dive into how to shape characters and their conflicts on the page. In this two-hour seminar, we’ll look at relationships between the self and other characters, as well as the types of conflicts to consider in your nonfiction work or memoir.
Speakers
avatar for Anna Qu

Anna Qu

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 →
Friday June 12, 2026 9:00am - 11:00am MDT
Lighthouse Writers Workshop

9:00am MDT

Intense Emotions, Subtle Words
Friday June 12, 2026 9:00am - 11:00am MDT
Poetry is the native tongue of passionate intensity. Yet how much is ‘too much’ when it comes to expressing enormous, complicated emotions? We can use various literary devices to create poetic restraint and redirection. We'll discuss works from contemporary poets Ada Limón, Sherman Alexie, Kim Addonizio, and others, as well as write our own intense—yet subtle—poems.
Speakers
avatar for Joy Roulier Sawyer

Joy Roulier Sawyer

Faculty
Joy Roulier Sawyer holds an MA from New York University, where she received the Herbert Rubin Award for Outstanding Creative Writing. The author of several nonfiction books, she's also published two poetry collections, Tongues of Men and Angels (White Violet Press), and Lifeguards... Read More →
Friday June 12, 2026 9:00am - 11:00am MDT
Lighthouse Writers Workshop

12:00pm MDT

Lunchtime Business Panel: Big Press, Small Press, No Press
Friday June 12, 2026 12:00pm - 1:00pm MDT
Panelists include: multi-press authors Cynthia Swanson (big press, no press) and Ramona Ausubel (big press, indie press) along with editors Brittany Torres Rivera from Graywolf (indie) and Caroline Bleeke Flatiron/Macmillan (big press)
Traditional publisher, small press, or self publication: how do you determine where your work belongs? Our distinguished panel of industry experts will discuss the pros and cons of publishing with a smaller indie press versus a large one—or even going it alone.


Speakers
avatar for Caroline Bleeke

Caroline Bleeke

Caroline Bleeke is Editorial Director, Fiction at Flatiron Books, having joined the imprint in 2014, at the very beginning of the fiction program. In addition to helping shape the vision and strategy for fiction acquisitions, she publishes a list of literary and upmarket fiction... Read More →
avatar for Brittany Torres Rivera

Brittany Torres Rivera

Assistant Editor, Graywolf Press
Bio: Brittany Torres Rivera is the assistant editor at Graywolf Press, where she edits poetry, fiction, and nonfiction, and is especially involved in works in translation from the Spanish. She is an alumna of the Fulbright Program and a columnist for Letras Latinas, the literary... Read More →
avatar for Ramona Ausubel

Ramona Ausubel

Faculty
Ramona Ausubel grew up in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Her newest novel, The Last Animal, received a Science + Literature Prize from the National Book Foundation and was a National Bestseller and a Barnes & Noble monthly pick. Her newest book will be out in Spring, 2026. Unstuck: 101 Doorways... Read More →
avatar for Cynthia Swanson

Cynthia Swanson

Faculty
Cynthia Swanson writes psychological thrillers, often using historical settings. Cynthia’s debut novel, The Bookseller, was a New York Times bestseller, an Indie Next selection, the winner of the 2016 WILLA Literary Award for Historical Fiction, translated into 18 languages, and... Read More →
Friday June 12, 2026 12:00pm - 1:00pm MDT
Lighthouse Writers Workshop

12:00pm MDT

Lunchtime Business Panel: Big Press, Small Press, No Press (Livestream)
Friday June 12, 2026 12:00pm - 1:00pm MDT
Panelists include: multi-press authors Cynthia Swanson (big press, no press) and Ramona Ausubel (big press, indie press) along with editors Brittany Torres Rivera from Graywolf (indie) and Caroline Bleeke Flatiron/Macmillan (big press)
Traditional publisher, small press, or self publication: how do you determine where your work belongs? Our distinguished panel of industry experts will discuss the pros and cons of publishing with a smaller indie press versus a large one—or even going it alone.
You've signed up for the Livestream version of this panel. If you'd prefer to attend in person, please register here.

Speakers
avatar for Caroline Bleeke

Caroline Bleeke

Caroline Bleeke is Editorial Director, Fiction at Flatiron Books, having joined the imprint in 2014, at the very beginning of the fiction program. In addition to helping shape the vision and strategy for fiction acquisitions, she publishes a list of literary and upmarket fiction... Read More →
avatar for Brittany Torres Rivera

Brittany Torres Rivera

Assistant Editor, Graywolf Press
Bio: Brittany Torres Rivera is the assistant editor at Graywolf Press, where she edits poetry, fiction, and nonfiction, and is especially involved in works in translation from the Spanish. She is an alumna of the Fulbright Program and a columnist for Letras Latinas, the literary... Read More →
avatar for Ramona Ausubel

Ramona Ausubel

Faculty
Ramona Ausubel grew up in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Her newest novel, The Last Animal, received a Science + Literature Prize from the National Book Foundation and was a National Bestseller and a Barnes & Noble monthly pick. Her newest book will be out in Spring, 2026. Unstuck: 101 Doorways... Read More →
avatar for Cynthia Swanson

Cynthia Swanson

Faculty
Cynthia Swanson writes psychological thrillers, often using historical settings. Cynthia’s debut novel, The Bookseller, was a New York Times bestseller, an Indie Next selection, the winner of the 2016 WILLA Literary Award for Historical Fiction, translated into 18 languages, and... Read More →
Friday June 12, 2026 12:00pm - 1:00pm MDT
Virtual

1:30pm MDT

Dance. Write. Repeat.
Friday June 12, 2026 1:30pm - 3:30pm MDT
We write not just with our minds but with our bodies. In this class, taught by a certified dance fitness instructor, we’ll explore what moving our bodies does for our writing. Using the principles of LaBlast dance fitness, which incorporates ballroom dance moves into accessible, partner-free patterns, we’ll alternate a variety of dance styles with writing sessions and see what comes loose. Open to all genres and all writing, dance, and fitness levels: the dances will be offered in lower intensity forms to suit the non-gym environment, though comfortable clothes and shoes are recommended.
Speakers
avatar for Jennifer Wortman

Jennifer Wortman

Faculty
Jennifer Wortman is the author of the story collection This. This. This. Is. Love. Love. Love. (Split/Lip Press, 2019), named the Denver Westword 2020 pick for best new short-story collection, the 2019 Foreword INDIES bronze winner for short stories, and a finalist for the Colorado... Read More →
Friday June 12, 2026 1:30pm - 3:30pm MDT
Lighthouse Writers Workshop

1:30pm MDT

POV Jumpstart
Friday June 12, 2026 1:30pm - 3:30pm MDT
If you’ve ever found yourself lost in a workshop, listening to someone talk about the “first person plural” or the limitations of “close third,” you’re not alone. Perspective and point-of-view can be daunting, even to experienced writers. In this generative, no-pressure session, we’ll look at the various kinds of POV a writer can use, and why. We’ll experiment with different perspectives, and take note of how they change the stories we tell. Other topics will include head-hopping, psychic distance, and narrative voice.
Speakers
avatar for Amanda Rea

Amanda Rea

Faculty
Amanda Rea's stories and essays have appeared in Harper's, Best American Mystery Stories, One Story, American Short Fiction, Freeman’s, The Missouri Review, The Kenyon Review, The Sun, Electric Literature's Recommended Reading, Indiana Review, Iowa Review, New South, Lit Hub, and... Read More →
Friday June 12, 2026 1:30pm - 3:30pm MDT
Lighthouse Writers Workshop

1:30pm MDT

Your Dark Materials
Friday June 12, 2026 1:30pm - 3:30pm MDT
It’s easy to write a story—you just have your characters do things, think, and engage in witty dialogue. But it’s difficult to write an excellent story—you have to expose something vital (maybe even dark, certainly elemental) that lurks in your subconscious, that speaks to your true self. If you’re unwilling to dig around and go deep, you’ll be forever writing perfectly fine stories that skim the surface. In this class, we’ll look at famous works that definitely took a risk, and, with these excerpts as inspiration, we’ll take an expedition to find our own dark materials.
Speakers
avatar for William Haywood Henderson

William Haywood Henderson

Faculty
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 →
Friday June 12, 2026 1:30pm - 3:30pm MDT
Lighthouse Writers Workshop

1:30pm MDT

Orbweaving a Book of Essays
Friday June 12, 2026 1:30pm - 3:30pm MDT
Do you dream of a book of essays, but need help finding a shape to cradle your vision? In this workshop, we’ll break out of linear thinking and into the many dimensions that can hold a book—from conception to publication. We’ll discuss themes, portals, organizational tools, and story-holding shapes (many from nature, such as the orbweaver’s spider web, which lent structure to my book). Come to class with two or more essays, and together we’ll investigate how your themes are talking to each other and could further arc outward. The emphasis of this workshop will be on individual vision building and generative feedback. Prose writers of any genre are welcome, as the shape-finding techniques can be applied to many projects. Come to class with fragments and leave with a book vision that has touchable dimensions!
Speakers
avatar for Christina Rivera

Christina Rivera

Faculty
Christina Rivera is a Pushcart Prize-winning essayist and ecofeminist writer whose debut book, My Oceans: Essays of Water, Whales, and Women (Curbstone Books/Northwestern University Press), received the IPNE Gold Award in Creative Nonfiction, a Best Debut designation from the Chicago... Read More →
Friday June 12, 2026 1:30pm - 3:30pm MDT
Lighthouse Writers Workshop

1:30pm MDT

Speculative Nonfiction
Friday June 12, 2026 1:30pm - 3:30pm MDT
Essayists, memoirists, and writers of hybrid nonfiction have long navigated the line between emotional truth and factual truth in search of meaning. In this hands-on, discussion-driven craft seminar, we’ll clarify the distinction between invention, lying, and the use of imagination and speculation as instruments of discovery. We’ll explore practical strategies for making our work deeper and more complex through “perhapsing” and other techniques.
Speakers
avatar for Harrison Candelaria Fletcher

Harrison Candelaria Fletcher

Faculty
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 House... Read More →
Friday June 12, 2026 1:30pm - 3:30pm MDT
Lighthouse Writers Workshop

1:30pm MDT

True Crimes: The Challenges of Writing Homicide Stories (V)
Friday June 12, 2026 1:30pm - 3:30pm MDT
In this seminar, we'll explore the challenges of telling true crime stories: from capturing the essence of the cases to managing ethical sensitivity. To understand how masters do it, we will read David Carr, Marcela Turati, Truman Capote, Emmanuel Carrère, Óscar Martínez and others. We'll learn from their techniques on research, structure, and writing.

A seminar for writers, journalists, and true crime enthusiasts. A combination of theory, practice, and discussion under one goal: storytelling with impact, respect for the victims, and writing with precision.
Speakers
avatar for Javier Sinay

Javier Sinay

Faculty
Javier Sinay is a writer and journalist. His books include The Murders of Moises Ville (Restless Books, 2022–Nominated for Book of the Year, 2023 CrimeCon C.L.U.E. Awards/original title: Los crímenes de Moisés Ville), Camino al Este, Cuba Stone (in collaboration), and Sangre joven... Read More →
Friday June 12, 2026 1:30pm - 3:30pm MDT
Virtual

1:30pm MDT

Writing Through Chronic Illness and/or Disability: A Reclamation
Friday June 12, 2026 1:30pm - 3:30pm MDT
What does it mean to tell the story of a body that has been misunderstood, dismissed, or translated through the language of medicine? In this class, writers living with chronic illness and/or disability will workshop up to 1200 words of a personal essay, a poem, a short story, or a chapter from a longer work-in-progress, with an emphasis on shaping narrative, refining voice, and sustaining momentum toward completion. Through close reading, discussion, and first-blush feedback, we’ll explore how specificity—writing from deep within a lived experience—can illuminate the universal. All work will be read out loud in class for discussion. No reading required ahead of time. Open to writers of all genres and levels.

Speakers
avatar for Rachel Weaver

Rachel Weaver

Faculty
Rachel Weaver is the author of the novel Point of Direction, which Oprah Magazine named a Top Ten Book to Pick Up Now and which won the 2015 Willa Cather Award for Fiction. She is on the faculty at Wilkes University’s low-residency MFA program in addition to teaching Lighthouse... Read More →
Friday June 12, 2026 1:30pm - 3:30pm MDT
TBA 3844 York Street, Denver, CO 80305

1:30pm MDT

How to Tell Time: Narrative in Poetry
Friday June 12, 2026 1:30pm - 3:30pm MDT
While poetry doesn’t require narrative, readers are often searching for it. In this course, we will discuss time and movement in poetry, and the many tools that help us to “drive” a poem and determine what kind of time we are telling. Through reading, discussion, and generative prompts, we will explore image, sound, rhythm, meter, juxtaposition, form, and to deepen our understanding of measuring, telling, and thinking about time in poems. We will read excerpts from Gwendolyn Brooks, Chen Chen, Mathias Svalina, and more.
Speakers
avatar for Suzi Q Smith

Suzi Q Smith

Faculty
Suzi Q. Smith is an award-winning artist, organizer, and educator who lives in Denver, Colorado. She has created, curated, coached, and taught in Denver for over 20 years, managing the largest poetry festivals that Denver has seen to date. A TEDx speaker multiple times, Suzi has performed... Read More →
Friday June 12, 2026 1:30pm - 3:30pm MDT
Lighthouse Writers Workshop

4:00pm MDT

Writing From Weakness
Friday June 12, 2026 4:00pm - 6:00pm MDT
Zadie Smith advises writers to “avoid your weaknesses.” With all due respect to Smith, sometimes our so-called weaknesses produce the best writing. In this generative class, we’ll embrace our weaknesses—personal, artistic, and physical—to see what power we can find. For writers of all levels and genres who don’t mind getting a little uncomfortable.
Speakers
avatar for Jennifer Wortman

Jennifer Wortman

Faculty
Jennifer Wortman is the author of the story collection This. This. This. Is. Love. Love. Love. (Split/Lip Press, 2019), named the Denver Westword 2020 pick for best new short-story collection, the 2019 Foreword INDIES bronze winner for short stories, and a finalist for the Colorado... Read More →
Friday June 12, 2026 4:00pm - 6:00pm MDT
Lighthouse Writers Workshop

4:00pm MDT

Dynamic Dialogue
Friday June 12, 2026 4:00pm - 6:00pm MDT
Strong dialogue brings characters to life in a way no amount of exposition can. It crystallizes relationships, advances the plot, provides texture and humor and heartbreak. In the words of Elizabeth Bowen: “Speech is what the characters do to each other.” It’s also when the reader is allowed to participate most fully in the world you’ve created. So let’s not shy away from it. In this generative session, we’ll look at strategies for making our dialogue as dynamic as it can be, including subtext, characterization, embedded action, using voice, as well as the nuts and bolts of dialogue tags and formatting.
Speakers
avatar for Amanda Rea

Amanda Rea

Faculty
Amanda Rea's stories and essays have appeared in Harper's, Best American Mystery Stories, One Story, American Short Fiction, Freeman’s, The Missouri Review, The Kenyon Review, The Sun, Electric Literature's Recommended Reading, Indiana Review, Iowa Review, New South, Lit Hub, and... Read More →
Friday June 12, 2026 4:00pm - 6:00pm MDT
Lighthouse Writers Workshop

4:00pm MDT

In the Trenches with Historical Fiction
Friday June 12, 2026 4:00pm - 6:00pm MDT
In historical fiction, you want to stay true to the period but resonate with modern readers. To feel like life, not a history book. So, how do our characters’ words capture the era? How does society decree they will relate to each other? Can you create an accurate world without overwhelming description? We'll explore shaping dialogue, choosing vocabulary, and making the best use of our research. Whether you have an idea or a first draft, bring your characters to the workshop and be prepared to write.
Speakers
avatar for Terri Lewis

Terri Lewis

Faculty
Terri Lewis fell in love with medieval history in college. Not the dates or wars, but the mysterious daily lives of the people. Building on this love, she read and traveled widely, and finally, two sentences in a book bought at Windsor Castle led her to write her debut novel, Behold... Read More →
Friday June 12, 2026 4:00pm - 6:00pm MDT
Lighthouse Writers Workshop

4:00pm MDT

Telling Stories in a Time of Fire: How to Write within the Climate Crisis
Friday June 12, 2026 4:00pm - 6:00pm MDT
“The future is not yet written,” says Rebecca Solnit, “[because] we are writing it now.” Even when hope feels harder than ever to maintain, the most effective single act of environmental conservation and protest is to tell stories. In this class, we’ll read and discuss writers across different genres, like Barry Lopez, Paisley Rekdal, Richard Powers, and Robin Wall Kimmerer. Their work artfully weaves the ecological with the individual. We’ll then experiment with enhancing our own writing through new techniques of engagement with the natural world. For any writer wanting more reason to hold onto hope for the future!
Speakers
avatar for Alexander Lumans

Alexander Lumans

Editor
Alexander Lumans was awarded a 2018 NEA Creative Writing Grant in Fiction. He received fellowships in 2015 and 2024 for expeditions with The Arctic Circle Residency and he was the Spring 2014 Philip Roth Resident at Bucknell University. His fiction and nonfiction have appeared in... Read More →
Friday June 12, 2026 4:00pm - 6:00pm MDT
Lighthouse Writers Workshop

4:00pm MDT

The Character Interview: Your Protagonist is Lying to You
Friday June 12, 2026 4:00pm - 6:00pm MDT
Every character has secrets. It's your job as a writer to uncover them. In this craft workshop, we'll put your main characters in the hot seat and ask the tough questions that reveal who they really are, what they want, and what they're hiding from you. Through guided exercises and group discussion, you'll learn how to interrogate your characters to uncover hidden motivations, fears, contradictions, and desires that can crack open your writing.
Speakers
avatar for Lior Torenberg

Lior Torenberg

Faculty
Lior Torenberg’s work has been published by One Story, MAYDAY, the Poetry Society of New York, and others. She received her MFA in Creative Writing from New York University and graduated from the Lighthouse Writers Workshop’s Book Project. Just Watch Me is her first novel.
Friday June 12, 2026 4:00pm - 6:00pm MDT
Lighthouse Writers Workshop

4:00pm MDT

Time and Time and Time Again
Friday June 12, 2026 4:00pm - 6:00pm MDT
In this lecture and discussion, we'll consider time as a formal component of narrative, essayistic, and lyrical writing. Moving beyond the distinction between scene and summary, we'll introduce techniques for mapping a story's time, and consider what happens when we stop or step outside of time's passage. We'll also experiment with time as a generative tool. By the session's end, we'll depart with new curiosities and the confidence to work and play with time as we might voice, POV, and every other element of creative writing.
Speakers
avatar for Kyle Beachy

Kyle Beachy

Faculty
Kyle Beachy is a novelist and essayist living in New Mexico. His memoir-in-essays, The Most Fun Thing (Grand Central, 2021), was named a Best Book of 2021 by NPR and Electric Lit. His writing has appeared in The Paris Review, Harvard Review, The Point, Portable Gray, Southwest Review... Read More →
Friday June 12, 2026 4:00pm - 6:00pm MDT
Lighthouse Writers Workshop

4:00pm MDT

Contemporary American Women Poets 2026
Friday June 12, 2026 4:00pm - 6:00pm MDT
Many living, breathing American women poets have written spectacular books in the last two years. Now in its seventh Lit Fest iteration, in preparation for this class I will sample nearly four dozen poetry collections from large and small presses. Danusha Lameris, Tara Stringfellow, Han Vanderhart and Diane Seuss are in the running, plus a long list of new poets to come. Continuing a tradition, we will explore the work of Linda Pastan as foremother. All are welcome.
Speakers
avatar for Lynn Wagner

Lynn Wagner

Faculty
Lynn Wagner is the author of No Blues This Raucous Song, which won the Slapering Hol Chapbook competition. She received an MFA from the University of Pittsburgh, where she won the Academy of American Poets prize. She has earned fellowships to the Virginia Center of the Creative Arts... Read More →
Friday June 12, 2026 4:00pm - 6:00pm MDT
Lighthouse Writers Workshop

4:00pm MDT

How To Be An Author For Hire (V)
Friday June 12, 2026 4:00pm - 6:00pm MDT
Want to write a book, but don't have a fully fleshed out concept or professional contacts in the publishing industry yet? With IP projects and other book-related content creation, publishers have ideas. They need writers to bring them to life. The same is often true for entrepreneurs, educational institutions, and businesses. Come learn about these lesser-known paths to becoming a traditionally published author, plus how these types of book deals can often be more straightforward, get you paid sooner, and potentially garner more compensation for your services.
Speakers
avatar for Rachel Werner

Rachel Werner

Faculty
Rachel Werner is the author of the kidlit FLOODS (Capstone 2022), MOVING AND GROOVING TO FILLMORE'S BEAT (Capstone 2023), and THE GLAM WORLD TOUR (Capstone 2025) as well as several new titles in Capstone's Pebble Explore series such as ADA LOVELACE CREATES AN ALGORITHM and the forthcoming... Read More →
Friday June 12, 2026 4:00pm - 6:00pm MDT
Virtual

4:00pm MDT

How to Self-Publish on a Budget
Friday June 12, 2026 4:00pm - 6:00pm MDT
What do The Martian, The Tale of Peter Rabbit, and Fifty Shades of Grey have in common? They were all originally self-published! Traditional publishing isn't the best fit for every project or every writer. But many authors who choose to self-publish often find themselves in trouble—ripped off by dubious vanity presses that will charge tens of thousands of dollars to do what you can do for a few hundred at home. This workshop will teach you how to start your own one-person press, lay out print and e-books, get a professionally designed cover, and distribute the final product to Amazon and local bookstores.
Speakers
avatar for Ari Schneider

Ari Schneider

Faculty
Ari Schneider is a senior writer at Mountain Gazette and the author of Stolen Headstones: One Family's Forgotten Holocaust Story. He has contributed to The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, Slate, Vogue, and Playboy. His work has also appeared alongside stories b... Read More →
Friday June 12, 2026 4:00pm - 6:00pm MDT
Lighthouse Writers Workshop

5:00pm MDT

Friday Faculty Reading and Happy Hour: Arvin, Berndt, Henry, Smith, and Tyson
Friday June 12, 2026 5:00pm - 6:00pm MDT
Hear readings from members of Lighthouse’s faculty while enjoying some of our Happy Hour offerings.
Hear readings from members of Lighthouse’s faculty while enjoying some of our Happy Hour offerings.
Our exciting roster:
  • Nick Arvin
  • Nini Berndt
  • Michael J. Henry
  • Suzi Q. Smith
  • Tiffany Quay Tyson
This is the in-person version of this event. If you’re interested in the Livestream version, click here.
We will have a Sober Safe Space available on the second floor during this event. This is a welcoming, inclusive gathering place for people in all forms of recovery or anyone who wants to have a space to connect without alcohol during Lit Fest 2026. There will be snacks. NA beverages, writing prompts, and conversation starters available during this time. 
For more resources and recovery meetings close to Lighthouse, you can visit: https://www.yorkstreetclub.com/Schedule 
Friday June 12, 2026 5:00pm - 6:00pm MDT
Lighthouse Writers Workshop
  All Genres

5:00pm MDT

Friday Faculty Reading and Happy Hour: Arvin, Berndt, Henry, Smith, and Tyson (Livestream)
Friday June 12, 2026 5:00pm - 6:00pm MDT
Hear readings from members of Lighthouse’s faculty while enjoying some of our Happy Hour offerings.
Our exciting roster:
  • Nick Arvin
  • Nini Berndt
  • Michael J. Henry
  • Suzi Q. Smith
  • Tiffany Quay Tyson
This is the Livestream version of this event, if you'd like to attend this in-person, click here.
Friday June 12, 2026 5:00pm - 6:00pm MDT
Virtual
  All Genres

6:15pm MDT

Weekend Advanced Workshop Orientation
Friday June 12, 2026 6:15pm - 6:55pm MDT
Writers taking workshops with Melissa Broder, Heather Christle, Ingrid Rojas Contreras, Layli Long Soldier, and Megha Majumdar,  join us on Friday afternoon for quick introductions to your instructor and fellow classmates and a tour of the Lit Fest campus. Stay for a visit to the food trucks, happy hour, and a CPR "Turn the Page" with Colorado Matters Interview at 7PM.
Friday June 12, 2026 6:15pm - 6:55pm MDT
Lighthouse Writers Workshop

7:00pm MDT

Turn the Page with Colorado Matters, featuring Ryan Warner and Rachel Weaver
Friday June 12, 2026 7:00pm - 8:15pm MDT
A newer Lit Fest tradition: Colorado Public Radio's "Turn the Page with Colorado Matters" comes to Lighthouse for a live, on-stage recording, this year with our own Rachel Weaver. Pick up her memoir, Dizzy, at the pop-up bookstore, then settle in as Ryan Warner— the most recognizable voice in Denver—does what he does best, this time exploring Rachel's account of a mysterious illness, the medical system that failed to address it, and the life that refused to wait.

This event is in-person. We also will have a livestream version of this event. 

More on the book:

Rachel Weaver’s novel Point of Direction was named a Top Ten Book To Pick Up Now by Oprah Magazine and won the Willa Cather Award for Fiction. Rachel’s newest book, Dizzy, an “arresting new memoir” according to Maureen Corrigan on NPR’s Fresh Air, published in February of 2026. Her second novel The Last Run, is forthcoming in June 2026 with Lake Union Publishing. Prior to earning her MFA in Writing and Poetics at Naropa University, Rachel worked for the Forest Service in Alaska studying bears, raptors and songbirds. She teaches at Wilkes University and Lighthouse Writers Workshop and holds a CPA in Narrative Medicine from Columbia University.

We will have a Sober Safe Space available on the second floor during this event. This is a welcoming, inclusive gathering place for people in all forms of recovery or anyone who wants to have a space to connect without alcohol during Lit Fest 2026. There will be snacks. NA beverages, writing prompts, and conversation starters available during this time. 

For more resources and recovery meetings close to Lighthouse, you can visit: https://www.yorkstreetclub.com/Schedule
Speakers
avatar for Ryan Warner

Ryan Warner

Host, Colorado Public Radio
yan Warner is senior host of Colorado Matters, the flagship daily interview program from CPR News. His voice is heard on frequencies around the state as he talks with Coloradans from all walks of life — politicians, scientists, artists, activists and others. Ryan's interviews with... Read More →
avatar for Rachel Weaver

Rachel Weaver

Faculty
Rachel Weaver is the author of the novel Point of Direction, which Oprah Magazine named a Top Ten Book to Pick Up Now and which won the 2015 Willa Cather Award for Fiction. She is on the faculty at Wilkes University’s low-residency MFA program in addition to teaching Lighthouse... Read More →
Friday June 12, 2026 7:00pm - 8:15pm MDT
Lighthouse Writers Workshop
  All Genres

7:00pm MDT

Turn the Page with Ryan Warner and Rachel Weaver (Livestream)
Friday June 12, 2026 7:00pm - 8:15pm MDT
A newer Lit Fest tradition: Colorado Public Radio's "Turn the Page with Colorado Matters" comes to Lighthouse for a live, on-stage recording, this year with our own Rachel Weaver. Pick up her memoir, Dizzy, at the pop-up bookstore, then settle in as Ryan Warner— the most recognizable voice in Denver—does what he does best, this time exploring Rachel's account of a mysterious illness, the medical system that failed to address it, and the life that refused to wait.

This event is livestream. We also have a in-person version of this event.

More on the book:

Rachel Weaver’s novel Point of Direction was named a Top Ten Book To Pick Up Now by Oprah Magazine and won the Willa Cather Award for Fiction. Rachel’s newest book, Dizzy, an “arresting new memoir” according to Maureen Corrigan on NPR’s Fresh Air, published in February of 2026. Her second novel The Last Run, is forthcoming in June 2026 with Lake Union Publishing. Prior to earning her MFA in Writing and Poetics at Naropa University, Rachel worked for the Forest Service in Alaska studying bears, raptors and songbirds. She teaches at Wilkes University and Lighthouse Writers Workshop and holds a CPA in Narrative Medicine from Columbia University.
Speakers
avatar for Ryan Warner

Ryan Warner

Host, Colorado Public Radio
yan Warner is senior host of Colorado Matters, the flagship daily interview program from CPR News. His voice is heard on frequencies around the state as he talks with Coloradans from all walks of life — politicians, scientists, artists, activists and others. Ryan's interviews with... Read More →
avatar for Rachel Weaver

Rachel Weaver

Faculty
Rachel Weaver is the author of the novel Point of Direction, which Oprah Magazine named a Top Ten Book to Pick Up Now and which won the 2015 Willa Cather Award for Fiction. She is on the faculty at Wilkes University’s low-residency MFA program in addition to teaching Lighthouse... Read More →
Friday June 12, 2026 7:00pm - 8:15pm MDT
Virtual
  All Genres
 
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