Lit Fest - Lighthouse Writers Workshop 2026: Full Schedule

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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

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

Fiction

Audience Craft Seminar

9:00am MDT

Getting Unstuck

Friday June 12, 2026 9:00am - 11:00am MDT

Lighthouse Writers Workshop

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

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

Fiction, Publishing/Career

Audience Craft Seminar

9:00am MDT

Getting Unstuck (Livestream)

Friday June 12, 2026 9:00am - 11:00am MDT

Virtual

Speakers

Ramona Ausubel

Faculty

Friday June 12, 2026 9:00am - 11:00am MDT
Virtual

Fiction, Publishing/Career

Type intro, intermediate, advanced
Audience Craft Seminar

9:00am MDT

How to Work with Narrative Time

Friday June 12, 2026 9:00am - 11:00am MDT

Lighthouse Writers Workshop

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

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

Fiction

Audience Craft Seminar

9:00am MDT

The Art of Constraints: Setting Limits to Set Ourselves Free

Friday June 12, 2026 9:00am - 11:00am MDT

Lighthouse Writers Workshop

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

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

Fiction, Nonfiction/Memoir

Audience Craft Seminar

1:30pm MDT

Dance. Write. Repeat.

Friday June 12, 2026 1:30pm - 3:30pm MDT

Lighthouse Writers Workshop

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

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

Fiction, Multi-Genre

Audience Craft Seminar

1:30pm MDT

POV Jumpstart

Friday June 12, 2026 1:30pm - 3:30pm MDT

Lighthouse Writers Workshop

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

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

Fiction, Nonfiction/Memoir

Audience Craft Seminar

1:30pm MDT

Your Dark Materials

Friday June 12, 2026 1:30pm - 3:30pm MDT

Lighthouse Writers Workshop

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

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

Fiction, Multi-Genre

Audience Craft Seminar

4:00pm MDT

Dynamic Dialogue

Friday June 12, 2026 4:00pm - 6:00pm MDT

Lighthouse Writers Workshop

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

Amanda Rea

Faculty

Friday June 12, 2026 4:00pm - 6:00pm MDT
Lighthouse Writers Workshop

Fiction, Nonfiction/Memoir

Audience Craft Seminar

4:00pm MDT

In the Trenches with Historical Fiction

Friday June 12, 2026 4:00pm - 6:00pm MDT

Lighthouse Writers Workshop

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

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

Fiction

Audience Craft Seminar

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

Lighthouse Writers Workshop

“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

Alexander Lumans

Editor

Friday June 12, 2026 4:00pm - 6:00pm MDT
Lighthouse Writers Workshop

Fiction, Multi-Genre

Audience Craft Seminar

4:00pm MDT

The Character Interview: Your Protagonist is Lying to You

Friday June 12, 2026 4:00pm - 6:00pm MDT

Lighthouse Writers Workshop

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

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

Fiction, Multi-Genre

Audience Craft Seminar

4:00pm MDT

Time and Time and Time Again

Friday June 12, 2026 4:00pm - 6:00pm MDT

Lighthouse Writers Workshop

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

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

Fiction, Multi-Genre