BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 X-WR-CALNAME:litfestlighthousewriterswor X-WR-CALDESC:Event Calendar METHOD:PUBLISH CALSCALE:GREGORIAN PRODID:-//Sched.com Lit Fest - Lighthouse Writers Workshop 2026//EN X-WR-TIMEZONE:UTC BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260612T150000Z DTEND:20260612T170000Z SUMMARY:Hike and Write: Urban Style DESCRIPTION: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. CATEGORIES:ALL GENRES LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:4bb206f3164471f2f6ab8a52d75b5f09 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/4bb206f3164471f2f6ab8a52d75b5f09 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260612T150000Z DTEND:20260612T170000Z SUMMARY:Beginnings\, Middles and Ends: The 9 Parts of Your Story DESCRIPTION: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). CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:ee4788f039b0c2ebf4ac1fc7e67fd460 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/ee4788f039b0c2ebf4ac1fc7e67fd460 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260612T150000Z DTEND:20260612T170000Z SUMMARY:Getting Unstuck DESCRIPTION: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).\n\nThis is the in-person version of this event. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:99ce5296fdff509a37085482133d41c6 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/99ce5296fdff509a37085482133d41c6 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260612T150000Z DTEND:20260612T170000Z SUMMARY:Getting Unstuck (Livestream) DESCRIPTION: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). \n\nThis is the livestream version of this event. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:Virtual SEQUENCE:0 UID:c7cbaa6b4aa21089d89bb3160ec12227 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/c7cbaa6b4aa21089d89bb3160ec12227 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260612T150000Z DTEND:20260612T170000Z SUMMARY:How to Work with Narrative Time DESCRIPTION: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. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:23e3acdc18a5ae6d167b11f1d109164e URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/23e3acdc18a5ae6d167b11f1d109164e END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260612T150000Z DTEND:20260612T170000Z SUMMARY:The Art of Constraints: Setting Limits to Set Ourselves Free DESCRIPTION: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. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:173d71cca5e4b4488e8729aefb4081f3 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/173d71cca5e4b4488e8729aefb4081f3 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260612T150000Z DTEND:20260612T170000Z SUMMARY:Memoir: What's Research Got to Do With It? DESCRIPTION: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. CATEGORIES:NONFICTION/MEMOIR LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:5d7acc65d5d0c49acddcf6ee5dd9e83c URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/5d7acc65d5d0c49acddcf6ee5dd9e83c END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260612T150000Z DTEND:20260612T170000Z SUMMARY:Where's the Conflict? DESCRIPTION: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. CATEGORIES:NONFICTION/MEMOIR LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:26c561f260a91cbca1d7798745e997b0 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/26c561f260a91cbca1d7798745e997b0 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260612T150000Z DTEND:20260612T170000Z SUMMARY:Intense Emotions\, Subtle Words DESCRIPTION: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. CATEGORIES:POETRY LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:934d2121aa8bd546b89d9d8628a2e7ec URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/934d2121aa8bd546b89d9d8628a2e7ec END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260612T180000Z DTEND:20260612T190000Z SUMMARY:Lunchtime Business Panel: Big Press\, Small Press\, No Press DESCRIPTION: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)\nTraditional 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.\n\n\n CATEGORIES:ALL GENRES LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:24aa2bc91f8e60987c3fe605ccb3f137 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/24aa2bc91f8e60987c3fe605ccb3f137 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260612T180000Z DTEND:20260612T190000Z SUMMARY:Lunchtime Business Panel: Big Press\, Small Press\, No Press (Livestream) DESCRIPTION: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)\nTraditional 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.\nYou've signed up for the Livestream version of this panel. If you'd prefer to attend in person\, please register here.\n\n CATEGORIES:ALL GENRES LOCATION:Virtual SEQUENCE:0 UID:7525d6789d1710f7686c6d9e5d4244e8 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/7525d6789d1710f7686c6d9e5d4244e8 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260612T193000Z DTEND:20260612T213000Z SUMMARY:Dance. Write. Repeat. DESCRIPTION: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. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:e20bd9dda5fc46b6d547808298954a64 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/e20bd9dda5fc46b6d547808298954a64 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260612T193000Z DTEND:20260612T213000Z SUMMARY:POV Jumpstart DESCRIPTION: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. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:866a1a3ca4dcc9c26634d0e87926eeaf URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/866a1a3ca4dcc9c26634d0e87926eeaf END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260612T193000Z DTEND:20260612T213000Z SUMMARY:Your Dark Materials DESCRIPTION: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. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:cc04e059b12b9560ceef942d96ddbb6e URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/cc04e059b12b9560ceef942d96ddbb6e END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260612T193000Z DTEND:20260612T213000Z SUMMARY:Orbweaving a Book of Essays DESCRIPTION: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! CATEGORIES:NONFICTION/MEMOIR LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:216dbbbd8e80e960c3806f5866084d80 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/216dbbbd8e80e960c3806f5866084d80 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260612T193000Z DTEND:20260612T213000Z SUMMARY:Speculative Nonfiction DESCRIPTION: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. CATEGORIES:NONFICTION/MEMOIR LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:cc465382196bbc8b33b8e3b5d58b67f8 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/cc465382196bbc8b33b8e3b5d58b67f8 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260612T193000Z DTEND:20260612T213000Z SUMMARY:True Crimes: The Challenges of Writing Homicide Stories (V) DESCRIPTION: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.\n \n 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. CATEGORIES:NONFICTION/MEMOIR LOCATION:Virtual SEQUENCE:0 UID:616a96fedd84fc510ac6cfb83c8aa2a0 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/616a96fedd84fc510ac6cfb83c8aa2a0 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260612T193000Z DTEND:20260612T213000Z SUMMARY:Writing Through Chronic Illness and/or Disability: A Reclamation DESCRIPTION: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. \n\n CATEGORIES:NONFICTION/MEMOIR LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:23ba3b6b671b2098e48445611ee9b187 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/23ba3b6b671b2098e48445611ee9b187 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260612T193000Z DTEND:20260612T213000Z SUMMARY:How to Tell Time: Narrative in Poetry DESCRIPTION: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. CATEGORIES:POETRY LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:1cf3c43c7a0a85ff07c6c25020d29ead URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/1cf3c43c7a0a85ff07c6c25020d29ead END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260612T220000Z DTEND:20260613T000000Z SUMMARY:Writing From Weakness DESCRIPTION: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. CATEGORIES:ALL GENRES LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:ca47a4241396867d1ca3a3790d4cc6df URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/ca47a4241396867d1ca3a3790d4cc6df END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260612T220000Z DTEND:20260613T000000Z SUMMARY:Dynamic Dialogue DESCRIPTION: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. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:9497bc09f682ac36b03659de75743cbb URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/9497bc09f682ac36b03659de75743cbb END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260612T220000Z DTEND:20260613T000000Z SUMMARY:In the Trenches with Historical Fiction DESCRIPTION: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. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:85730303d0bd17fdba9672baa40deb41 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/85730303d0bd17fdba9672baa40deb41 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260612T220000Z DTEND:20260613T000000Z SUMMARY:Telling Stories in a Time of Fire: How to Write within the Climate Crisis DESCRIPTION:“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! CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:d3ce26617df2d14a624116182bc3f066 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/d3ce26617df2d14a624116182bc3f066 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260612T220000Z DTEND:20260613T000000Z SUMMARY:The Character Interview: Your Protagonist is Lying to You DESCRIPTION: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. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:7be857059780cace53db98e6c739efb0 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/7be857059780cace53db98e6c739efb0 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260612T220000Z DTEND:20260613T000000Z SUMMARY:Time and Time and Time Again DESCRIPTION: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. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:d735ae35efc2853fa610b6e7b053c903 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/d735ae35efc2853fa610b6e7b053c903 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260612T220000Z DTEND:20260613T000000Z SUMMARY:Contemporary American Women Poets 2026 DESCRIPTION: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. CATEGORIES:POETRY LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:d0ce4943acae50d33b445837722d622b URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/d0ce4943acae50d33b445837722d622b END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260612T220000Z DTEND:20260613T000000Z SUMMARY:How To Be An Author For Hire (V) DESCRIPTION: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. CATEGORIES:PUBLISHING/CAREER LOCATION:Virtual SEQUENCE:0 UID:9d0f24ce7c27fbc4e1d5e70538ac197c URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/9d0f24ce7c27fbc4e1d5e70538ac197c END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260612T220000Z DTEND:20260613T000000Z SUMMARY:How to Self-Publish on a Budget DESCRIPTION: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. CATEGORIES:PUBLISHING/CAREER LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:7636c8d941c319085b49dc0c68d5010d URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/7636c8d941c319085b49dc0c68d5010d END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260612T230000Z DTEND:20260613T000000Z SUMMARY:Friday Faculty Reading and Happy Hour: Arvin\, Berndt\, Henry\, Smith\, and Tyson DESCRIPTION:Hear readings from members of Lighthouse’s faculty while enjoying some of our Happy Hour offerings.\nHear readings from members of Lighthouse’s faculty while enjoying some of our Happy Hour offerings.\nOur exciting roster:\nNick ArvinNini BerndtMichael J. HenrySuzi Q. SmithTiffany Quay TysonThis is the in-person version of this event. If you’re interested in the Livestream version\, click here.\nWe 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. \;\nFor more resources and recovery meetings close to Lighthouse\, you can visit: https://www.yorkstreetclub.com/Schedule \; CATEGORIES:ALL GENRES LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:6c92cc4a37f9611f0f86128a38b7bb8a URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/6c92cc4a37f9611f0f86128a38b7bb8a END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260612T230000Z DTEND:20260613T000000Z SUMMARY:Friday Faculty Reading and Happy Hour: Arvin\, Berndt\, Henry\, Smith\, and Tyson (Livestream) DESCRIPTION:Hear readings from members of Lighthouse’s faculty while enjoying some of our Happy Hour offerings.\nOur exciting roster:\nNick ArvinNini BerndtMichael J. HenrySuzi Q. SmithTiffany Quay TysonThis is the Livestream version of this event\, if you'd like to attend this in-person\, click here. CATEGORIES:ALL GENRES LOCATION:Virtual SEQUENCE:0 UID:11d23411678ade6ce4ec1397d75eef8b URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/11d23411678ade6ce4ec1397d75eef8b END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260613T001500Z DTEND:20260613T005500Z SUMMARY:Weekend Advanced Workshop Orientation DESCRIPTION: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. CATEGORIES:ALL GENRES LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:cfe26239c3cba7a7e89c50184f89a504 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/cfe26239c3cba7a7e89c50184f89a504 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260613T010000Z DTEND:20260613T021500Z SUMMARY:Turn the Page with Colorado Matters\, featuring Ryan Warner and Rachel Weaver DESCRIPTION: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.\n\nThis event is in-person. We also will have a livestream version of this event. \;\n\nMore on the book:\n\nRachel 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.\n\nWe 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. \;\n\nFor more resources and recovery meetings close to Lighthouse\, you can visit: https://www.yorkstreetclub.com/Schedule CATEGORIES:ALL GENRES LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:0ec3d361bddd741b1983a55502564424 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/0ec3d361bddd741b1983a55502564424 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260613T010000Z DTEND:20260613T021500Z SUMMARY:Turn the Page with Ryan Warner and Rachel Weaver (Livestream) DESCRIPTION: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.\n\nThis event is livestream. We also have a in-person version of this event. \n\nMore on the book:\n\nRachel 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. CATEGORIES:ALL GENRES LOCATION:Virtual SEQUENCE:0 UID:506de14f6073b738e40b3ea347c66f15 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/506de14f6073b738e40b3ea347c66f15 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260613T143000Z DTEND:20260613T180000Z SUMMARY:Advanced Weekend Fiction Intensive: Narrative Movement with Megha Majumdar DESCRIPTION:How does a story move? What constitutes successful movement\, and what can we learn from moments where the story fails to achieve its own goals? With particular attention to plot\, structure\, character evolution\, and logic\, we’ll use this critique-based workshop to examine these questions as they pertain to participants' short stories or excerpts from longer work. We’ll begin workshop by having each participant read aloud one sentence from their work\, to remind us of the spell of their fiction\, and then we will discuss what we found to be persuasive\, and what we found to be less so\, with the aim of offering a path forward for revision. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:910396c79a3e7e3bac20a5f40e7a404d URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/910396c79a3e7e3bac20a5f40e7a404d END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260613T143000Z DTEND:20260613T180000Z SUMMARY:Advanced Weekend Hybrid Workshop: Games Writers Play with Heather Christle DESCRIPTION:Engaging in play strengthens our linguistic abilities and our capacity to imagine other ways to move through a day (or a life). This workshop will bring people together to play with language as a group and as individuals. We will work to lift ourselves and each other out of ruts worn into our minds. We will pick up strings of words and ask "What would happen if we took this in a different direction?" We will surprise and be surprised in turn.\n \n Through games and other playful writing exercises\, you will generate language that you can bring home with you to spark new work. In some cases you may create an entire poem during the workshop itself. The games and exercises are designed to delight and to be shared widely. You can play them later with friends when you (or they) need to connect with a wildness within.\n \n It is probably going to be weird and it is almost certainly going to be fun. CATEGORIES:POETRY LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:62dbbb4d3fd8098e2d93a20db121ceb1 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/62dbbb4d3fd8098e2d93a20db121ceb1 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260613T150000Z DTEND:20260613T170000Z SUMMARY:The Creative Act: Finding Flow in Flaw (V) DESCRIPTION:Inspired by Rick Rubin’s The Creative Act\, this generative workshop will loosen your sense of perfectionism and open the door to creative possibility. Through the practices of stillness\, attention\, and mindful observation\, we’ll quiet the inner critic\, welcome flaws on the page\, and make them part of the creative process. Guided exercises will turn mistakes into unexpected openings and reveal new textures in your writing. Leave with pages that surprise you and a renewed sense of creative freedom. CATEGORIES:ALL GENRES LOCATION:Virtual SEQUENCE:0 UID:41850aab3a89cecf9ae83c2fcee9cc9e URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/41850aab3a89cecf9ae83c2fcee9cc9e END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260613T150000Z DTEND:20260613T170000Z SUMMARY:Desire and Power DESCRIPTION:Desire is a fundamental element of character-building\, yet in too many drafts\, character desires lack urgency or are too easily thwarted or fulfilled. In this seminar\, we’ll discuss different ways to pump up the stakes and\, even better\, consider the sparks that can fly when multiple characters have multiple\, competing desires. How can tension be built through power dynamics? What are the ways in which power might manifest? How might it be applied? And how and when might it shift\, so that your characters—and your reader—are kept on their toes? CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:7b32dbf1fc6a686462d215215729753c URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/7b32dbf1fc6a686462d215215729753c END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260613T150000Z DTEND:20260613T170000Z SUMMARY:Haunted Landscapes: Writing Place as Presence DESCRIPTION:In this generative workshop\, we’ll go about the project of animating setting as character. Through prompts and discussion\, we’ll explore how landscape can embody memory\, loss\, and the uncanny—whether rural\, urban\, or imagined. Come ready to write! CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:d7b9e32f5de89c4079e06ee9d09ac0c9 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/d7b9e32f5de89c4079e06ee9d09ac0c9 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260613T150000Z DTEND:20260613T170000Z SUMMARY:Say Less\, Mean More: Writing with Subtext DESCRIPTION:Learn how to layer meaning beneath dialogue and description so your characters reveal as much in silence as they do in speech. We’ll analyze short examples\, then practice writing scenes where the real tension simmers beneath the words. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:aff544afbb9cb1151ae3cb0d238abac1 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/aff544afbb9cb1151ae3cb0d238abac1 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260613T150000Z DTEND:20260613T180000Z SUMMARY:Two-Day Intensive: Plotting Your Course—The Major Turning Points Every Story Needs DESCRIPTION:Plotting your novel doesn’t have to feel like pulling teeth. Writers will learn about the plot points roadmap—the five major plot points in every story that you need to know before starting your first draft. We'll talk about the three-act structure\, theme as the touchpoint for every story\, and how plot and character rely on each other and propel each other forward. We’ll identify the five major turning points in every plot that keep your story on track to the finish line (even if the story wanders a little in between). CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:8bbb51eeab15cd48710d75839d8acf36 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/8bbb51eeab15cd48710d75839d8acf36 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260613T150000Z DTEND:20260614T180000Z SUMMARY:Two-Day Intensive: The Undeniable Voice—Craft Lessons from Vigil by George Saunders DESCRIPTION:The latest novel from Booker Prize–winning George Saunders\, Vigil\, takes place in a single evening—the last one\, in fact\, for dying oil baron K.J. Boone. During his twilight hours\, Boone finds himself transported to otherworldly realms populated by the living and the dead. And everyone he meets has an urgent story to tell. In this class\, we’ll dissect Saunders’s meaningful storytelling choices. We’ll discuss his emotionally affecting style that takes bigger and bigger risks by the page. And we’ll experiment in our own writing with his craft techniques. Come ready to learn from one of our modern masters! CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:21f1064c0fb56dd6a7490601285c4a5e URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/21f1064c0fb56dd6a7490601285c4a5e END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260613T150000Z DTEND:20260613T180000Z SUMMARY:Two-Day Intensive: The Visionary Movement DESCRIPTION:Using fundamental techniques such as writing like a camera and tracking the sensory experience of a POV character\, we'll learn how to write successful visionary movements such as hallucinations\, delusions\, distorted realities\, daydreams\, and interior fantasy lives. We'll study literary examples and film sequences as models for how to convince our reader they too are seeing and experiencing what the characters on the page think they are seeing and experiencing\, when in fact it’s all in their head. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:d363eb8272a08a1c14dbff2f851ccf3d URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/d363eb8272a08a1c14dbff2f851ccf3d END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260613T150000Z DTEND:20260613T170000Z SUMMARY:Revision is the Doorway to a Poem's (R)evolution DESCRIPTION:This seminar will begin with an artist talk focused on revision. We’ll look at the (r)evolution of selected poems and lyrical essays from personal archives—from their raw and earnest first attempts into their final forms. We’ll explore the process of research and material collection\; intellectual/emotional considerations\; and the detachment from initial ideas and embrace of new directions and forms. We’ll also watch a few short videos of other poets discussing their revision processes. We’ll think about the ways that revision opens the doors for our poem’s liberation and freedom. Together\, through group discussion and hands-on exercises\, we’ll develop our own set of “best practices” for revision.\n\nThis is the in-person version of this event. \; CATEGORIES:POETRY LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:9ddeb5435fabfa67a3605bb241289211 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/9ddeb5435fabfa67a3605bb241289211 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260613T150000Z DTEND:20260613T170000Z SUMMARY:Revision is the Doorway to a Poem's (R)evolution (Livestream) DESCRIPTION:This seminar will begin with an artist talk focused on revision. We’ll look at the (r)evolution of selected poems and lyrical essays from personal archives—from their raw and earnest first attempts into their final forms. We’ll explore the process of research and material collection\; intellectual/emotional considerations\; and the detachment from initial ideas and embrace of new directions and forms. We’ll also watch a few short videos of other poets discussing their revision processes. We’ll think about the ways that revision opens the doors for our poem’s liberation and freedom. Together\, through group discussion and hands-on exercises\, we’ll develop our own set of  \;“best practices” for revision.\nThis is the livestream version of this event. CATEGORIES:POETRY LOCATION:Virtual SEQUENCE:0 UID:b5f5564b645d3c5fcfb8d5143e345467 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/b5f5564b645d3c5fcfb8d5143e345467 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260613T150000Z DTEND:20260613T180000Z SUMMARY:Two-Day Intensive: The Personal. The Political. The Poetic. DESCRIPTION:To the tune of all things protest song and poetry: In this generative workshop\, we'll read poems\, speeches\, essays\, and lyrics that offer a lens on liberation and resistance\, while highlighting the personal voice and experience. We'll consider the long-held traditions of poetry as a tool for social change and examine our own relationships to that history. Participants will write from prompts and then\, depending on time\, share some of their writing. Appropriate for all levels of experience. CATEGORIES:POETRY LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:4040fb1847d8fa3dad1ab6ad666e066f URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/4040fb1847d8fa3dad1ab6ad666e066f END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260613T160000Z DTEND:20260613T173000Z SUMMARY:Queer Creatives Drag Bingo Brunch DESCRIPTION:It’s brunch! And this year we're bringing back bingo with local drag queen Alice Glamoure! Come celebrate Lit Fest with delicious food from Scratch Catering Services\, cocktails\, mocktails\, and some friendly bingo competition with your fellow LGBTQIA+ writers and creatives. The first three winners will receive prizes\, including a choice of a book written by Lighthouse’s Queer Creatives faculty. \;\n\nQueer Creatives focuses on queer writers and makers in Colorado. We aim to connect queer creatives with peers because we know that LGBTQIA+ lives are enriched and affirmed through collective storymaking and storysharing. No matter how your creativity manifests\, no matter how your queerness manifests\, this is a space for you! \n\nIf the ticket price will prevent you from attending this year’s brunch\, please complete a writership application to register for a discounted or free spot.\nWe 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. \;\n\nFor more resources and recovery meetings close to Lighthouse\, you can visit: https://www.yorkstreetclub.com/Schedule CATEGORIES:ALL GENRES LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:d36989786029bb6809f77593c5e4e65b URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/d36989786029bb6809f77593c5e4e65b END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260613T180000Z DTEND:20260613T190000Z SUMMARY:Lunchtime Business Panel: Clips and Careers—Editors of Lit Mags\, Newspapers\, and Outlets Tell All DESCRIPTION:Panelists include: \;Camille Bromley (NYT Opinion \;Special Projects)\, Alexander Lumans (American Short Fiction)\, \;Holly Amos (Poetry)\, \;and Jane Huffman (Denver Quarterly)\n\nPublishing a poem\, essay\, news piece\, or short story can be a huge accomplishment on its own\, but it can also be the first move in a much longer game. This panel brings together editors from literary magazines\, newspapers\, and major outlets (including an editor from American Short Fiction\, a special projects editor from New York Times Opinion\, an editor from Poetry\, \;and an editor from Denver Quarterly) to talk about what they're looking for\, how to get their attention\, and what a single well-placed piece can set in motion. One Lighthouse writer published just such an essay in the Times\, and watched it become the foundation of her book published in February. Come hear how that happens\, and how to start building your own trail of clips\, credits\, and opportunities. CATEGORIES:ALL GENRES LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:c0cb74baeec826ef3967d9fef28c7ef5 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/c0cb74baeec826ef3967d9fef28c7ef5 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260613T180000Z DTEND:20260613T190000Z SUMMARY:Lunchtime Business Panel: Clips and Careers—Editors of Lit Mags\, Newspapers\, and Outlets Tell All (Livestream) DESCRIPTION:Panelists include: \;Camille Bromley (NYT Opinion \;Special Projects)\, Alexander Lumans (American Short Fiction)\, \;Holly Amos (Poetry)\, \;and Jane Huffman (Denver Quarterly)\n\nPublishing a poem\, essay\, news piece\, or short story can be a huge accomplishment on its own\, but it can also be the first move in a much longer game. This panel brings together editors from literary magazines\, newspapers\, and major outlets (including an editor from American Short Fiction\, a special projects editor from New York Times Opinion\, and others TBA) to talk about what they're looking for\, how to get their attention\, and what a single well-placed piece can set in motion. One Lighthouse writer published just such an essay in the Times\, and watched it become the foundation of her book published in February. Come hear how that happens\, and how to start building your own trail of clips\, credits\, and opportunities. CATEGORIES:ALL GENRES LOCATION:Virtual SEQUENCE:0 UID:ff7c3f0b8ac2f111946a47f8b0d6b464 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/ff7c3f0b8ac2f111946a47f8b0d6b464 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260613T190000Z DTEND:20260613T220000Z SUMMARY:Two-Day Intensive: Strange and Mundane—Pulling the Odd from the Everyday DESCRIPTION:The minutia of our lives is a rich and wild and wonderful place. In this course\, we'll look at a variety of writers—Joy Williams\, Grace Paley\, Lynne Tillman\, Stephen Dixon\, Donald Barthelme\, George Saunders— to see how they mine the strangenesses of the everyday. In looking at these writers\, we’ll identify places in our own work where the fascinating inner life of the work we do\, the food we eat\, the tasks we complete\, the rules we have to follow\, can become the thrilling\, perplexing\, nuanced\, and propulsive heart that keeps us invested in a story. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:9fd2301eaeb43d2ecb40feb4f415b2a2 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/9fd2301eaeb43d2ecb40feb4f415b2a2 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260613T190000Z DTEND:20260613T220000Z SUMMARY:Two-Day Intensive: Your Voice on the Page DESCRIPTION:Your fully developed literary voice is as individual as your brain\, your intelligence\, your sight. It will set you apart from all other writers. Taking inspiration from Ben Yagoda’s The Sound on the Page and Jane Allison’s Meander\, Spiral\, Explode\, we’ll examine your voice\, discover its strengths and individuality\, and ultimately help you break through to an even more distinct and complex voice on the page. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:6d01363d260b3c8cc6db88e1562554f2 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/6d01363d260b3c8cc6db88e1562554f2 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260613T190000Z DTEND:20260613T220000Z SUMMARY:Two-Day Intensive: Borrowed Structures—Finding Poetic Form in Unexpected Places DESCRIPTION:What happens when a poem takes its shape from an art installation\, divination text\, or folk calendar entry? In this class\, we'll explore how poets borrow forms—structures adapted from non-poetic sources—to create surprising and generative constraints. Through a range of examples\, we’ll explore how to identify promising forms in the world around you and adapt them for poem making. CATEGORIES:POETRY LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:3adf0a4acc4928ddfb81e6fba577ae68 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/3adf0a4acc4928ddfb81e6fba577ae68 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260613T193000Z DTEND:20260613T230000Z SUMMARY:Advanced Weekend Fiction Workshop: Using Image with Melissa Broder DESCRIPTION:This immersive workshop invites writers of all levels to explore the vibrant intersection of visual art and the written word. Ekphrastic writing\, poetry\, or prose is directly inspired by works of art\, and it offers a powerful way to deepen perception\, escape the linear mind during drafting\, and evolve originality and surprise in one’s artistic voice. Through guided in-class exercises and prompts\, we’ll explore visual ekphrasis\, as well as experimental forms of audio and somatic ekphrasis to generate new fiction. Participants will receive first-blush feedback on their work\, and opportunities to share will be available to those who would like to do so. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:fda34310d37ee779afcae725bb02b588 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/fda34310d37ee779afcae725bb02b588 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260613T193000Z DTEND:20260613T213000Z SUMMARY:Is My Character An Asshole? DESCRIPTION:WWE Hall-of-Famer Scott Hall famously said\, "Bad times don't last\, but bad guys do." Is it true that bad characters last longer in our imaginations than the good ones? How does this compete with conventional wisdom that encourages likeable characters? We’ll examine common character tropes in fiction and nonfiction\, as well as the mandate that characters can (or should?) change over the course of the story. Collectively\, we’ll explore character arcs and how to create lasting relationships between readers and characters. Each writer will leave this seminar having developed an archetype for one of their characters. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:7c24e612f3e756cd3a4db669a54ac257 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/7c24e612f3e756cd3a4db669a54ac257 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260613T193000Z DTEND:20260613T213000Z SUMMARY:Literary Ephemera DESCRIPTION:In this generative\, multi-genre course\, we’ll explore alternative approaches to storytelling\, such as erasure\, literary collage\, photo captions and image-text hybrids. We’ll create narratives relying less on plot and more on association\, juxtaposition and negative space. This seminar will be run like an art studio – with live prompts and plenty of cutting\, pasting\, erasing and replacing. Through examples\, discussion and exercises\, we’ll learn how everyday ephemera can jumpstart your writing\, help you approach a project from another angle\, or simply see your world differently. Bring your inner child\, an open mind\, and be prepared to play. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:afa50b4c9e5c7dbfd532e5f3397b7557 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/afa50b4c9e5c7dbfd532e5f3397b7557 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260613T193000Z DTEND:20260613T213000Z SUMMARY:Sentence Surgery: Another Live Editing Seminar DESCRIPTION:Sentences in fiction are subject to different demands than sentences in nonfiction\, and thus (perhaps) must be constructed and revised differently. In this multi-hour live-edit session\, we'll collectively play with various sentences and paragraphs as a means of exploring this idea\, beginning with a sentence that every typist knows by heart\, then mauling passages from some famous/infamous works\, and concluding with examples submitted by participants (from their own work or from well-known writers\, preferably dead). Where\, exactly\, we go will be driven by the examples selected and the questions that arise. Emphasis will be on exploring the phenomenal plasticity of language\, design tradeoffs in sentence structure\, and the cognitive processes involved in reading\, rather than issues of correctness\, style\, or rhetorical strategy. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:630e8de9403e20fe45cc53b71922c9aa URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/630e8de9403e20fe45cc53b71922c9aa END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260613T193000Z DTEND:20260613T213000Z SUMMARY:Structure through Motif DESCRIPTION:A motif is a recurring element in a piece of art—an object\, action\, idea\, sensation\, or just a word or line. Saris. Doors opening and closing. Variations of the word “small.” And\, like characters\, motifs can develop over the course of a narrative\, adding layers of suggestion and meaning. They can even serve as a narrative’s primary structural element. In this seminar\, we’ll consider motifs that call to us\; locate potential motifs in our own drafts\; identify ways to tease out arcs for our motifs\; and maybe even figure out how to use those motifs to build an entire story or essay around. Bring something short you’d like to play around with. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:54c62884f95c230b789ed785ad0f655c URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/54c62884f95c230b789ed785ad0f655c END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260613T193000Z DTEND:20260613T213000Z SUMMARY:The Laundry Line (V) DESCRIPTION:In his writing workshops\, the journalist Michael Pollan says that every piece of writing\, whether fiction or nonfiction\, needs a "laundry line": a main conceptual through-line that is strong yet flexible enough to hold the various vignettes\, reflections\, and analyses that make up the piece. This craft seminar will provide an opportunity for writers to begin developing a sturdy laundry line for their current projects\, focusing on the difference between narrative and chronology\, how voice evolves across structure\, how to braid personal reflection with reportage and analysis\, and much more. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:Virtual SEQUENCE:0 UID:78164fde0038d2e5c2f6a0c3dc343104 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/78164fde0038d2e5c2f6a0c3dc343104 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260613T193000Z DTEND:20260613T230000Z SUMMARY:Advanced Weekend Nonfiction Workshop: Truth in Nonfiction with Ingrid Rojas Contreras DESCRIPTION:This workshop is for all writers working in nonfiction\, established or otherwise. The rigors of nonfiction lie in telling the truth\, fact-checking the truth\, and working with material evidence. The factually accurate in nonfiction is of utmost importance—but how do we write the factually accurate when facts can be slippery? How\, and what\, do we write when the history of a people hasn’t been kept\, or has actively been erased? How can we acknowledge the murk and the inexact quality of memory on the page? In this workshop\, we’ll use Michael Taussig’s important summation of the work of anthropology—the “subject is not the truth of being but the social being of truth”— to help guide us through the lenses available in nonfiction. We’ll read some nonfiction that widens the scope of the genre\, utilizes different lenses\, and we’ll write in class using prompts inspired by our readings. Students will also workshop a piece. This class is for nonfiction work only. CATEGORIES:NONFICTION/MEMOIR LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:da3e305a5abaafe643ff6d08634056fc URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/da3e305a5abaafe643ff6d08634056fc END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260613T193000Z DTEND:20260613T213000Z SUMMARY:Sell Essays That Boost Your Book's Potential DESCRIPTION:Trying to build your platform to sell your memoir book proposal? I was in that situation last year. This seminar will help writers brainstorm a variety of reported essay angles for their main personal story\, and craft pitches for reported stories that include the right balance of research and connection to readers. We’ll talk about finding contacts for editors and then grabbing their attention. We'll examine sample pitches that helped me land research-backed essays in the New York Times\, Guardian\, Vogue and CNBC\, all of which boosted my credibility as an expert\, which in turn promoted my book. CATEGORIES:NONFICTION/MEMOIR LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:d1027711de603ad6d3e95eb3fd703599 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/d1027711de603ad6d3e95eb3fd703599 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260613T193000Z DTEND:20260613T230000Z SUMMARY:Advanced Weekend Poetry Workshop: Freedom Before the Revolt with Layli Long Soldier DESCRIPTION:Poems have their own lives and their own minds\, it seems. At some point\, even with our best intentions\, we may encounter resistance from the poem. Or worse\, the poem may revolt and fall apart. So perhaps\, the poem is like a young adult: It wants to say something and needs the freedom to do so. For this to happen\, we as poets must set aside our expectations and predeterminations of what a poem “should be.” Perhaps we need to get out of the way and let the young poem find itself\, its shape\, its own life. This is to say\, we mustn’t be afraid to let the poem try things and fail. We must encourage its curiosity and courage. In this workshop\, we’ll see what happens when we get out of the way and follow the poem’s desires. We’ll set aside our ideas about right and wrong. Instead\, we’ll ask\, what happens when we completely alter the punctuation? What happens with short lines versus no line breaks at all? What happens when the text sprawls across the page freely or sings from a cozy corner? We will embrace missteps as part of the process\, all in pursuit of the question\, What does the poem want? Participants will need a notebook dedicated as a “thinking journal” to write in and\, outside of class\, a computer and an open mind to listen sensitively and judgment-free to our young poems. CATEGORIES:POETRY LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:d8a83dec0f02ab7adad8c77272f00f3e URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/d8a83dec0f02ab7adad8c77272f00f3e END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260613T220000Z DTEND:20260614T000000Z SUMMARY:I Shot the Sheriff: Writing True/Untrue Confessions DESCRIPTION:Literary confessions generate sympathy\, create immediacy\, and solidify the confessor’s relationship with an empathetic reader. But how do you navigate the trickier aspects of confession: drama vs. self-indulgence\, getting the reader to care\, and scariest of all\, what your mother might think? In this class\, we’ll examine how the experts navigate their real and imaginary confessions\, and plunder their secrets for our personal use. And then confess to it. Privacy will be respected\; open to all genres. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:7c50b4a204e7d487d28fc500c09f948b URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/7c50b4a204e7d487d28fc500c09f948b END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260613T220000Z DTEND:20260614T000000Z SUMMARY:Literary Swagger: Writing Prose that Makes Readers Take Notice DESCRIPTION:Have you ever read a passage in a book that made you want to applaud\, howl\, laugh\, and most of all\, underline? Some writers have literary swagger\, and don’t think that people don’t notice! Swagger can arrive through confidence\, humor\, decisiveness\, or intensity of feeling. Swagger happens when the voice of the prose rises to meet the pitch of the story in an important moment. In this class we’ll read examples from writers including Miranda July\, Deborah Jackson Taffa\, Olga Tokarczuk\, Damon Young\, Kirstin Valdez Quade\, Kevin Wilson\, and Hanif Abdurraquib and try writing knockout prose of our own. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:0c44044c877860c674d4688b91f207d3 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/0c44044c877860c674d4688b91f207d3 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260613T220000Z DTEND:20260614T000000Z SUMMARY:Out of Character DESCRIPTION:Contrary to everything writers are told about crafting credible characters\, this workshop will explore when and why your characters should do something “out of character.” Practicing techniques we’ll discuss in class\, we’ll further develop characters\, build tension\, create conflict\, and/or work toward revelation and resolution. We will use low-stakes fiction-focused writing exercises to explore the idea but creative nonfiction writers and memoirists will learn how to use the same concept in their work. All participants will learn who the people populating their pages really are. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:19b525f713c1403aaec8ad27ce1803bc URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/19b525f713c1403aaec8ad27ce1803bc END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260613T220000Z DTEND:20260614T000000Z SUMMARY:Unspooling Local Lore: Bringing Your Setting to Life DESCRIPTION:Even as many of us can quickly identify the eccentricities and mythology of places we’ve called home\, it can be enormously challenging to fully capture a place on the page. In this two-hour\, generative craft seminar\, writers will have the opportunity to name\, map\, and explicate the urban legends\, suburban gossip\, and local lore that defines the towns and cities we call home\, and\, in doing so\, bring the settings of our fiction\, poetry\, and creative nonfiction to life in more vivid detail. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:940aed98bf12be803024c5574030d98e URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/940aed98bf12be803024c5574030d98e END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260613T220000Z DTEND:20260614T000000Z SUMMARY:Lyric Essay: Gathering Fragments DESCRIPTION:In this workshop\, we will read examples and begin drafting our own lyric essays. The lyric essay is a form that brings together elements of poetry\, memoir\, and creative nonfiction to invite a reader to an experience. Sometimes fragmented\, the lyric essay allows us to draw from our own memories\, impressions\, ideations\, questions and research to weave a narrative about our individual and collective experiences. We will write fragments in response to prompts and find strategies to weave them together into lyric essays. CATEGORIES:NONFICTION/MEMOIR LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:7849be365d413f19d78bff8658db89e3 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/7849be365d413f19d78bff8658db89e3 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260613T220000Z DTEND:20260614T000000Z SUMMARY:Rhapsody (V) DESCRIPTION:Rhapsody: an expression of ecstasy or uncontrolled emotion. This is not a genre we hear much about in poetry classes\, but this workshop invites writers to play in language and sing out their most unbridled feelings. We will look at how sound and image—and even the use of punctuation and the page—can open the poem to articulate what we might otherwise hesitate to express. CATEGORIES:POETRY LOCATION:Virtual SEQUENCE:0 UID:37dffa7b102a6fadf9d1d3bc040845f3 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/37dffa7b102a6fadf9d1d3bc040845f3 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260613T230000Z DTEND:20260614T000000Z SUMMARY:Saturday Faculty Reading and Happy Hour: Rivera\, Sawyer\, O'Grady\, Tucker\, and Weaver DESCRIPTION:Hear readings from members of Lighthouse’s faculty while enjoying some of our Happy Hour offerings.\nOur Lineup\nChristina Rivera \nJoy Sawyer\nMegan O'Grady\nSeth Brady Tucker\nRachel Weaver\n\nWe 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. \;\nFor more resources and recovery meetings close to Lighthouse\, you can visit: https://www.yorkstreetclub.com/Schedule CATEGORIES:ALL GENRES LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:d17f74bca1f91ce95dcffe742defac07 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/d17f74bca1f91ce95dcffe742defac07 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260613T230000Z DTEND:20260614T000000Z SUMMARY:Saturday Faculty Reading and Happy Hour: Rivera\, Sawyer\, O'Grady\, Tucker\, and Weaver (Livestream) DESCRIPTION:Hear readings from members of Lighthouse’s faculty while enjoying some of our Happy Hour offerings. This is the Livestream version of this event\, if you'd like to attend this in-person\, click \;here.\nOur Lineup\nChristina Rivera \nJoy Sawyer\nMegan O'Grady\nSeth Brady Tucker\nRachel Weaver CATEGORIES:ALL GENRES LOCATION:Virtual SEQUENCE:0 UID:b17572ae31addcdccc31a8af95fc1bc4 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/b17572ae31addcdccc31a8af95fc1bc4 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260614T010000Z DTEND:20260614T021500Z SUMMARY:Visiting Authors Reading: Melissa Broder\, Heather Christle\, Layli Long Soldier\, Megha Majumdar\, and Ingrid Rojas Contreras DESCRIPTION:Grab a drink or a bite from our food truck and buckle down in Beacon Hall to hear your favorite visiting author perform their recent works. Afterwards\, you can shop at the Lit Fest pop-up bookstore operated by Spell Books and get your book signed. This is the in-person version of this event.\n\nWe 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. \;\n\nFor more resources and recovery meetings close to Lighthouse\, you can visit: https://www.yorkstreetclub.com/Schedule CATEGORIES:ALL GENRES LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:4af4585e660efea25c66b0990139cfd9 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/4af4585e660efea25c66b0990139cfd9 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260614T010000Z DTEND:20260614T021500Z SUMMARY:Visiting Authors Reading: Melissa Broder\, Heather Christle\, Layli Long Soldier\, Megha Majumdar\, and Ingrid Rojas Contreras (Livestream) DESCRIPTION:Grab a drink or a bite from our food truck and buckle down in Beacon Hall to hear your favorite visiting author perform their recent works. Afterwards\, you can shop at the Lit Fest pop-up bookstore operated by Spell Books and get your book signed. This is the livestream version of this event. CATEGORIES:ALL GENRES LOCATION:Virtual SEQUENCE:0 UID:543226e82b52190d22d3af15e108d2b6 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/543226e82b52190d22d3af15e108d2b6 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260614T143000Z DTEND:20260614T180000Z SUMMARY:Advanced Weekend Fiction Intensive: Narrative Movement with Megha Majumdar DESCRIPTION:How does a story move? What constitutes successful movement\, and what can we learn from moments where the story fails to achieve its own goals? With particular attention to plot\, structure\, character evolution\, and logic\, we’ll use this critique-based workshop to examine these questions as they pertain to participants' short stories or excerpts from longer work. We’ll begin workshop by having each participant read aloud one sentence from their work\, to remind us of the spell of their fiction\, and then we will discuss what we found to be persuasive\, and what we found to be less so\, with the aim of offering a path forward for revision. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:3b201c6486583f64acea5c78bab87107 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/3b201c6486583f64acea5c78bab87107 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260614T143000Z DTEND:20260614T180000Z SUMMARY:Advanced Weekend Hybrid Workshop: Games Writers Play with Heather Christle DESCRIPTION:Engaging in play strengthens our linguistic abilities and our capacity to imagine other ways to move through a day (or a life). This workshop will bring people together to play with language as a group and as individuals. We will work to lift ourselves and each other out of ruts worn into our minds. We will pick up strings of words and ask "What would happen if we took this in a different direction?" We will surprise and be surprised in turn.\n \n Through games and other playful writing exercises\, you will generate language that you can bring home with you to spark new work. In some cases you may create an entire poem during the workshop itself. The games and exercises are designed to delight and to be shared widely. You can play them later with friends when you (or they) need to connect with a wildness within.\n \n It is probably going to be weird and it is almost certainly going to be fun. CATEGORIES:POETRY LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:e885546d681470b86c76d5d713234295 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/e885546d681470b86c76d5d713234295 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260614T150000Z DTEND:20260614T170000Z SUMMARY:Becoming a Channel DESCRIPTION:In drafting and editing\, there are often two different drives at play: our conception of what the text is “about” vs. the story that wants to be told. How\, as writers\, do we dismantle our egos\, transcend the clutter of the conscious mind\, and surrender control—even in a rigorous editing process—to tap into the fundamental heart of a story?\n \n In this seminar\, writers will be given a toolkit for doing just that. We’ll explore meditation\, archetype\, myth\, ekphrasis\, writing in motion\, somatic exercises\, stichomancy\, and alchemy. We’ll also discuss the outlining process from a perspective of fluidity\, and how\, like the ship of Theseus\, an outline can evolve as we write and edit.\n\nThis is the in-person version of this event. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:7fef7fe7437bc712e097836d51538be9 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/7fef7fe7437bc712e097836d51538be9 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260614T150000Z DTEND:20260614T170000Z SUMMARY:Becoming a Channel (Livestream) DESCRIPTION:In drafting and editing\, there are often two different drives at play: our conception of what the text is “about” vs. the story that wants to be told. How\, as writers\, do we dismantle our egos\, transcend the clutter of the conscious mind\, and surrender control—even in a rigorous editing process—to tap into the fundamental heart of a story?\n\nIn this seminar\, writers will be given a toolkit for doing just that. We’ll explore meditation\, archetype\, myth\, ekphrasis\, writing in motion\, somatic exercises\, stichomancy\, and alchemy. We’ll also discuss the outlining process from a perspective of fluidity\, and how\, like the ship of Theseus\, an outline can evolve as we write and edit.\nThis is the livestream version of this event. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:Virtual SEQUENCE:0 UID:88633cd6cb1b298326dc32084611d777 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/88633cd6cb1b298326dc32084611d777 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260614T150000Z DTEND:20260614T170000Z SUMMARY:How to Write Sex Scenes without Shame DESCRIPTION:Even though people think about sex all the time\, and even have it occasionally\, writers tend to shy away from the subject. Which is crazy. Because sex is the one experience that makes us all hopeful and horny and embarrassed and vulnerable. In this freewheeling afternoon\, we’ll look at the work of Mary Gordon\, James Salter\, and other literary horndogs in an effort to figure out how to infuse our own sex scenes with genuine emotion and ecstatic sensation\, not evasions and porn clichés. Arrive ready to lay your characters bare. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:de3dcae80a387c4c75f2054f18293a82 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/de3dcae80a387c4c75f2054f18293a82 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260614T150000Z DTEND:20260614T180000Z SUMMARY:Two-Day Intensive: Plotting Your Course—The Major Turning Points Every Story Needs DESCRIPTION:Plotting your novel doesn’t have to feel like pulling teeth. Writers will learn about the plot points roadmap—the five major plot points in every story that you need to know before starting your first draft. We'll talk about the three-act structure\, theme as the touchpoint for every story\, and how plot and character rely on each other and propel each other forward. We’ll identify the five major turning points in every plot that keep your story on track to the finish line (even if the story wanders a little in between). CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:cf8067a1f96ef4ea9941e8d297b9a3a8 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/cf8067a1f96ef4ea9941e8d297b9a3a8 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260614T150000Z DTEND:20260614T180000Z SUMMARY:Two-Day Intensive: The Undeniable Voice—Craft Lessons from Vigil by George Saunders DESCRIPTION:The latest novel from Booker Prize–winning George Saunders\, Vigil\, takes place in a single evening—the last one\, in fact\, for dying oil baron K.J. Boone. During his twilight hours\, Boone finds himself transported to otherworldly realms populated by the living and the dead. And everyone he meets has an urgent story to tell. In this class\, we’ll dissect Saunders’s meaningful storytelling choices. We’ll discuss his emotionally affecting style that takes bigger and bigger risks by the page. And we’ll experiment in our own writing with his craft techniques. Come ready to learn from one of our modern masters! CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:b3ecf74d26fd0a16799026e20cd71c63 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/b3ecf74d26fd0a16799026e20cd71c63 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260614T150000Z DTEND:20260614T180000Z SUMMARY:Two-Day Intensive: The Visionary Movement DESCRIPTION:Using fundamental techniques such as writing like a camera and tracking the sensory experience of a POV character\, we'll learn how to write successful visionary movements such as hallucinations\, delusions\, distorted realities\, daydreams\, and interior fantasy lives. We'll study literary examples and film sequences as models for how to convince our reader they too are seeing and experiencing what the characters on the page think they are seeing and experiencing\, when in fact it’s all in their head. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:819d29f4dd59719197ecbc1021b7e1d0 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/819d29f4dd59719197ecbc1021b7e1d0 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260614T150000Z DTEND:20260614T170000Z SUMMARY:Creative Research: Turning Curiosity into Story (V) DESCRIPTION:At the start of every great story is a question and the need to explore or understand better. In this class\, we’ll explore how intentional research can enrich your creative work and give it depth\, texture\, and authority. Drawing from my background in journalism\, I’ll show you practical ways to design a research plan\, find reliable sources\, and conduct meaningful interviews with relatives and strangers. Whether you’re writing an essay\, memoir\, profile\, or novel\, you’ll leave with tools to approach research as a creative\, ethical and enjoyable practice. CATEGORIES:NONFICTION/MEMOIR LOCATION:Virtual SEQUENCE:0 UID:e49a1e938b617ca2873fa56a497ab976 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/e49a1e938b617ca2873fa56a497ab976 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260614T150000Z DTEND:20260614T170000Z SUMMARY:Listen to the Work DESCRIPTION:Writers of all genres are invited to take part in an experiment designed to help you listen. In the midst of creating a work\, it’s necessary to invest time in dreaming what it could be. Throughout our process\, we may make statements\, diagram plot\, lay down tidy plans for where a work will go\, what it will mean\, and what it will sound like. But your best-laid plans might be concealing a more exciting path you haven’t imagined yet.. Perhaps you have begun to perceive it\, but you have not wholly become conscious of it. In the days leading up to this seminar\, you will have an assignment: listen to your work in progress. During the seminar\, we’ll abstain from editing and instead listen to what our novel\, memoir\, essay\, or poem has to teach us. CATEGORIES:NONFICTION/MEMOIR LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:5904633fb763d828d23ddf18fa46d4d5 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/5904633fb763d828d23ddf18fa46d4d5 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260614T150000Z DTEND:20260614T170000Z SUMMARY:Re/vision: Nurture Your Inner Poetry Editor DESCRIPTION:Revision is where mediocre poems become excellent ones—but how do you know what to change? This practical class offers concrete strategies for seeing your work with fresh eyes and revising with purpose. We'll cover five techniques for gaining critical distance from your drafts and five actionable revision approaches for poems that haven't yet reached their potential. You'll also learn how to interpret and implement workshop feedback effectively\, turning even vague or contradictory responses into productive next steps for your poems. CATEGORIES:POETRY LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:b2cfab31e9c8b9fd924d1bb6c17bb1b2 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/b2cfab31e9c8b9fd924d1bb6c17bb1b2 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260614T150000Z DTEND:20260614T180000Z SUMMARY:Two-Day Intensive: The Personal. The Political. The Poetic. DESCRIPTION:To the tune of all things protest song and poetry: In this generative workshop\, we'll read poems\, speeches\, essays\, and lyrics that offer a lens on liberation and resistance\, while highlighting the personal voice and experience. We'll consider the long-held traditions of poetry as a tool for social change and examine our own relationships to that history. Participants will write from prompts and then\, depending on time\, share some of their writing. Appropriate for all levels of experience. CATEGORIES:POETRY LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:13c0190172f7dc7d64eafba9081bbac0 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/13c0190172f7dc7d64eafba9081bbac0 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260614T180000Z DTEND:20260614T190000Z SUMMARY:Lunchtime Business Panel: Dear Agent DESCRIPTION:Panelists include: Kurestin Armada (Root Literary)\, Nicole Cunningham (Trellis Literary Management)\, and Julie Stevenson (Massie\, McQuilkin & Altman Literary Agents).\n\nThe slush pile is real\, the inbox is overwhelming\, and the rules keep changing—especially now. Join Shana Kelly and several agents for a candid conversation about what the querying process actually looks like in 2026: how they find new writers\, what makes them keep reading\, and what makes them stop. Come with your burning questions. Leave with a real map. CATEGORIES:ALL GENRES LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:72d79a1def4fb9111d8770186a215d4a URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/72d79a1def4fb9111d8770186a215d4a END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260614T180000Z DTEND:20260614T190000Z SUMMARY:Lunchtime Business Panel: Dear Agent (Livestream) DESCRIPTION:Panelists include: Kurestin Armada (Root Literary)\, Nicole Cunningham (Trellis Literary Management)\, and Julie Stevenson (Massie\, McQuilkin & Altman Literary Agents).\n\nThe slush pile is real\, the inbox is overwhelming\, and the rules keep changing—especially now. Join Shana Kelly and several agents for a candid conversation about what the querying process actually looks like in 2026: how they find new writers\, what makes them keep reading\, and what makes them stop. Come with your burning questions. Leave with a real map. CATEGORIES:ALL GENRES LOCATION:Virtual SEQUENCE:0 UID:e9c3b5b19167979df516c71237b52ea3 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/e9c3b5b19167979df516c71237b52ea3 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260614T190000Z DTEND:20260614T220000Z SUMMARY:Two-Day Intensive: Strange and Mundane—Pulling the Odd from the Everyday DESCRIPTION:The minutia of our lives is a rich and wild and wonderful place. In this course\, we'll look at a variety of writers—Joy Williams\, Grace Paley\, Lynne Tillman\, Stephen Dixon\, Donald Barthelme\, George Saunders— to see how they mine the strangenesses of the everyday. In looking at these writers\, we’ll identify places in our own work where the fascinating inner life of the work we do\, the food we eat\, the tasks we complete\, the rules we have to follow\, can become the thrilling\, perplexing\, nuanced\, and propulsive heart that keeps us invested in a story. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:0c7c69820362913b7bf33e138a5d1595 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/0c7c69820362913b7bf33e138a5d1595 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260614T190000Z DTEND:20260614T220000Z SUMMARY:Two-Day Intensive: Your Voice on the Page DESCRIPTION:Your fully developed literary voice is as individual as your brain\, your intelligence\, your sight. It will set you apart from all other writers. Taking inspiration from Ben Yagoda’s The Sound on the Page and Jane Allison’s Meander\, Spiral\, Explode\, we’ll examine your voice\, discover its strengths and individuality\, and ultimately help you break through to an even more distinct and complex voice on the page. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:231ddbdd98ad7ceef8674d880287efe6 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/231ddbdd98ad7ceef8674d880287efe6 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260614T190000Z DTEND:20260614T220000Z SUMMARY:Two-Day Intensive: Borrowed Structures—Finding Poetic Form in Unexpected Places DESCRIPTION:What happens when a poem takes its shape from an art installation\, divination text\, or folk calendar entry? In this class\, we'll explore how poets borrow forms—structures adapted from non-poetic sources—to create surprising and generative constraints. Through a range of examples\, we’ll explore how to identify promising forms in the world around you and adapt them for poem making. CATEGORIES:POETRY LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:957b820e040b3ce44751247d61dddf13 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/957b820e040b3ce44751247d61dddf13 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260614T193000Z DTEND:20260614T213000Z SUMMARY:Structure and Alchemy: Writing Climactic Transformations (V) DESCRIPTION:Fiction writers are conditioned to assume the climax of our novel/short story is simply the point of highest action. But this is a narrow\, purely situational definition of climax. And for nonfiction writers\, the necessity of a climax in our structure is mentioned as an afterthought if at all. This seminar will reconceptualize narrative climax as an alchemical transformation deeply connected to a work's motivating questions and utterly necessary to all prose works\, regardless of genre. Writers will leave equipped with tools for plotting the climaxes of their own works and integrating these into their narrative structures. CATEGORIES:ALL GENRES LOCATION:Virtual SEQUENCE:0 UID:ce5a728a55b8db4cf0ceabb1bcf62744 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/ce5a728a55b8db4cf0ceabb1bcf62744 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260614T193000Z DTEND:20260614T230000Z SUMMARY:Advanced Weekend Fiction Workshop: Using Image with Melissa Broder DESCRIPTION:This immersive workshop invites writers of all levels to explore the vibrant intersection of visual art and the written word. Ekphrastic writing\, poetry\, or prose is directly inspired by works of art\, and it offers a powerful way to deepen perception\, escape the linear mind during drafting\, and evolve originality and surprise in one’s artistic voice. Through guided in-class exercises and prompts\, we’ll explore visual ekphrasis\, as well as experimental forms of audio and somatic ekphrasis to generate new fiction. Participants will receive first-blush feedback on their work\, and opportunities to share will be available to those who would like to do so. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:90f04b26bfaabdba3a8c016009ce66fe URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/90f04b26bfaabdba3a8c016009ce66fe END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260614T193000Z DTEND:20260614T213000Z SUMMARY:Beyond the Laugh: How and Why to Use Humor DESCRIPTION:There are serious reasons to crack a few jokes in your manuscript. In this class\, we'll discuss how to use humor as a narrative tool. From deepening plot to establishing tone\, we'll explore how and why comedy is an essential function in storytelling. The class will include close readings of examples from Twain to Tulathimutte\, discussions of the various definitions of humor\, and prompts using different joke forms. To note\, the class will be focused on fiction\, though all writers of all levels are welcome. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:562b58faa3bc9a318112533d85ec2540 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/562b58faa3bc9a318112533d85ec2540 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260614T193000Z DTEND:20260614T213000Z SUMMARY:Going Out in Style DESCRIPTION:We will explore the “baroque” and “plain song” writing styles. When we talk baroque\, consider Angela Carter's adjective-heavy prose\, filled with language demanding a reader have a dictionary nearby. In the case of plain song\, Ernest Hemingway\, a journalist\, employs prose so simple it almost reads like Dick & Jane. While every writer cultivates their own style and individual voice\, this class examines the impact style has on content. We’ll explore how (and when) to write a complex-compound sentence absolutely littered with modifiers and punctuation versus when to be economic\, sparse\, even fragmented. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:44104569e544c5a8533ac413ffc036f8 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/44104569e544c5a8533ac413ffc036f8 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260614T193000Z DTEND:20260614T213000Z SUMMARY:Plot: A Conjuror's Guide DESCRIPTION:An often daunting aspect of writing fiction can be conjuring a plot that snags and keeps a reader's attention. In this craft seminar\, we’ll break down different ways to think about plot\, and we’ll examine how plot can be an essential element of the stories we are trying to tell. With a mix of lecture\, writing exercises\, and some time for Q&A at the end\, we’ll work to make plot less intimidating and see it as an organic\, intrinsic\, and hugely satisfying part of storytelling. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:9adea51f474ae5631dee158e9ba04824 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/9adea51f474ae5631dee158e9ba04824 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260614T193000Z DTEND:20260614T230000Z SUMMARY:Advanced Weekend Nonfiction Workshop: Truth in Nonfiction with Ingrid Rojas Contreras DESCRIPTION:This workshop is for all writers working in nonfiction\, established or otherwise. The rigors of nonfiction lie in telling the truth\, fact-checking the truth\, and working with material evidence. The factually accurate in nonfiction is of utmost importance—but how do we write the factually accurate when facts can be slippery? How\, and what\, do we write when the history of a people hasn’t been kept\, or has actively been erased? How can we acknowledge the murk and the inexact quality of memory on the page? In this workshop\, we’ll use Michael Taussig’s important summation of the work of anthropology—the “subject is not the truth of being but the social being of truth”— to help guide us through the lenses available in nonfiction. We’ll read some nonfiction that widens the scope of the genre\, utilizes different lenses\, and we’ll write in class using prompts inspired by our readings. Students will also workshop a piece. This class is for nonfiction work only. CATEGORIES:NONFICTION/MEMOIR LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:c8bc8c2ccc8c67a545360bc151caf36a URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/c8bc8c2ccc8c67a545360bc151caf36a END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260614T193000Z DTEND:20260614T213000Z SUMMARY:Hike and Write: Urban Style DESCRIPTION: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. CATEGORIES:NONFICTION/MEMOIR LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:8bd7dbd1676d9036a7d47dd1dac25066 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/8bd7dbd1676d9036a7d47dd1dac25066 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260614T193000Z DTEND:20260614T213000Z SUMMARY:Turn your essay into a TEDx Talk (V) DESCRIPTION:This course will demystify the TEDx process by helping writers find a TEDx organization taking applications\, understand what organizers are looking for in your application\, apply for a TEDx talk to be selected\, and learn the difference between writing a TED talk script and an essay. I'll provide handouts with templates and links to helpful resources. My content will include personal anecdotes and interviews I've had with three TEDx show producers and two essayists who have given TEDx talks. CATEGORIES:NONFICTION/MEMOIR LOCATION:Virtual SEQUENCE:0 UID:f8181deb30758e49f1c4a4f6609e84cc URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/f8181deb30758e49f1c4a4f6609e84cc END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260614T193000Z DTEND:20260614T230000Z SUMMARY:Advanced Weekend Poetry Workshop: Freedom Before the Revolt with Layli Long Soldier DESCRIPTION:Poems have their own lives and their own minds\, it seems. At some point\, even with our best intentions\, we may encounter resistance from the poem. Or worse\, the poem may revolt and fall apart. So perhaps\, the poem is like a young adult: It wants to say something and needs the freedom to do so. For this to happen\, we as poets must set aside our expectations and predeterminations of what a poem “should be.” Perhaps we need to get out of the way and let the young poem find itself\, its shape\, its own life. This is to say\, we mustn’t be afraid to let the poem try things and fail. We must encourage its curiosity and courage. In this workshop\, we’ll see what happens when we get out of the way and follow the poem’s desires. We’ll set aside our ideas about right and wrong. Instead\, we’ll ask\, what happens when we completely alter the punctuation? What happens with short lines versus no line breaks at all? What happens when the text sprawls across the page freely or sings from a cozy corner? We will embrace missteps as part of the process\, all in pursuit of the question\, What does the poem want? Participants will need a notebook dedicated as a “thinking journal” to write in and\, outside of class\, a computer and an open mind to listen sensitively and judgment-free to our young poems. CATEGORIES:POETRY LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:e10ca78b05d71850aaad5e6e860a6a83 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/e10ca78b05d71850aaad5e6e860a6a83 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260614T193000Z DTEND:20260614T213000Z SUMMARY:Are Words Alive? DESCRIPTION:This craft talk will focus on strategies for collaborating with words as living beings. How do we make ourselves available to their arrival? How do we treat them when we meet? What do they desire? What do they hate? We'll look to possible clues from poets\, writers\, and critics who knew language before us\, as well as theories nabbed from neuroscience and predictive coding. We may not answer all our questions\, but we’ll marvel at the sensations (and writings) they can produce. CATEGORIES:POETRY LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:20915e8b68bfa7db73f8ce08176c9ff5 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/20915e8b68bfa7db73f8ce08176c9ff5 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260614T230000Z DTEND:20260615T000000Z SUMMARY:Weeklong Advanced Workshop Orientation DESCRIPTION:Writers taking workshops with Steve Almond\, Emily Rapp Black\, Christopher Castellani\, Andre Dubus III\, Danielle Evans\, Mat Johnson\, Rebecca Makkai\, Paul Muldoon\, Eileen Myles\, Beth Nguyen\, Rachel Louise Snyder\, and Brandon Johnson\, join us on Sunday early evening for quick introductions to your instructor and fellow classmates and a tour of the Lit Fest campus. Stay for the Lit Fest Kickoff Party\, complete with dinner and free to all advanced class participants! CATEGORIES:ALL GENRES LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:47ed45464f36cbc82999e640dee1fbba URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/47ed45464f36cbc82999e640dee1fbba END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260615T000000Z DTEND:20260615T023000Z SUMMARY:Lit Fest Kickoff Party DESCRIPTION:The kickoff party brings together participants and instructors for a night of celebration. More details coming soon!\n\nWe 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. \;\n\nFor more resources and recovery meetings close to Lighthouse\, you can visit: https://www.yorkstreetclub.com/Schedule CATEGORIES:ALL GENRES LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:33eeeea89065eda492c8c2c65a8155ed URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/33eeeea89065eda492c8c2c65a8155ed END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260615T150000Z DTEND:20260616T053000Z SUMMARY:Advanced Weeklong Fiction Workshop: Finding the Subterranean Story with Danielle Evans DESCRIPTION:Often\, the process of drafting fiction is one of uncovering: What is it we actually mean to be writing about\, and how can we bring that thread to the surface in revision? At the same time\, one of the great pleasures of reading is the consideration of suggestions or questions that remain just beneath the surface of the text. In this workshop\, we'll consider the “layers” of a story\, and we’ll explore how some of those subterranean layers can guide us toward structures and narrative arcs that serve the project. We'll negotiate the balance between what works best when said directly and what works best when it’s left to be discovered by the reader. Each workshop will open with discussion of a published short story and a brief responsive writing exercise\; then we’ll move to an in-depth discussion of work submitted by participants. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:9f8d28e3fed6523ef8c3b5b59cd09e1b URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/9f8d28e3fed6523ef8c3b5b59cd09e1b END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260615T150000Z DTEND:20260616T053000Z SUMMARY:Advanced Weeklong Fiction Workshop: Intimate Distance with Mat Johnson DESCRIPTION:Novels are long\, often unruly\, and inherently ambitious projects that require the writer to be both intimate with and distant from the text. It's easy to type a bunch of pages\, but it’s hard to make them captivate the reader and ensure that the journey adds up to more than the sum of its parts. This course will explore the tools needed to bring your novel-length manuscript to life in its strongest form. Your novel has strengths: we'll explore how you can build on them. Your novel has weaknesses: we'll identify them and create strategies for you to overcome them. Together\, we'll reveal what your novel is actually about\, as opposed to what you planned for it to be. We’ll examine its hidden structures\, and we’ll enable your characters and their struggles to come alive on the page. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:230e2fa4e855073aa6e701e612d66364 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/230e2fa4e855073aa6e701e612d66364 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260615T150000Z DTEND:20260616T053000Z SUMMARY:Advanced Weeklong Fiction Workshop: Situation and Event with Brandon Taylor DESCRIPTION:In this weeklong workshop\, we’ll explore the intimate relationship between situation and event in narrative using work submitted by participants. The goal is to gain a stronger understanding of and appreciation for the underlying or pre-existing dramatic context that gives meaning to plot\, character actions\, and even the structure of a piece. We’ll use this stronger understanding to develop a more thorough conceptualization of our work so that we can make exciting\, unexpected\, and more meaningful choices in our stories. We’ll be working with the below definitions: Situation: All of the facts that comprise the starting condition of a character’s life at the beginning of a given story\, novel\, scene\, or act. We may understand situation as another word for circumstance raised to the level of dramatic action and intent. Event: The event is the happening or the trigger shot of a given scene\, story\, or novel. There are capital E Events and little e events. But regardless\, both kinds of events should be drawn out of the very bedrock of your narrative and dramatic situation. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:12edf23fa668518c642ecfe5be4293ad URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/12edf23fa668518c642ecfe5be4293ad END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260615T150000Z DTEND:20260616T053000Z SUMMARY:Advanced Weeklong Fiction Workshop: The BS Detector with Steve Almond DESCRIPTION:Writing is decision making\, nothing more and nothing less. What word? Where to place the comma? How to shape the paragraph? Join Steve Almond for a workshop focused on improving the decisions you make in your writing. By looking critically and carefully at other people’s work\, you’ll walk away with a better sense of how to improve your own. The idea is not to slow your rate of composition via compulsive revision\, but to instead make better decisions in the first place and to recognize quickly when you haven’t. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:f01ac4cb74d2bfce50fd5014e5f054fb URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/f01ac4cb74d2bfce50fd5014e5f054fb END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260615T150000Z DTEND:20260616T053000Z SUMMARY:Advanced Weeklong Fiction Workshop: Who's Telling Your Story? with Christopher Castellani DESCRIPTION:The most important decision a writer makes is who tells their story. In this workshop\, we will examine each other's manuscripts primarily through the lens of point of view and by using the concept of narrative strategy\, but we will also take each manuscript as a whole and discuss how all the craft elements are working together. The primary question we will ask is\, "How can the manuscript be a stronger\, deeper version of itself?" This workshop is open to short story writers and novelists with stand-alone excerpts. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:e403dd3fa513da20773175a43dbde00d URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/e403dd3fa513da20773175a43dbde00d END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260615T150000Z DTEND:20260616T053000Z SUMMARY:Advanced Weeklong Generative Fiction Workshop: Starting\, or Starting Over with Rebecca Makkai DESCRIPTION:In this generative workshop\, we’ll either begin brand new pieces\, or begin a brand new version of an old piece. In either case\, we’ll use our clean slates to find startling originality\, optimal angles of approach\, and the energies that will carry a story or novel through to the end. We’ll write both in class and outside of class and (voluntarily) share what we’ve written. In the last two days of class\, we’ll squeeze in mini-workshops on everyone’s opening page. Accepted participants do not need to come in with an idea of what to write\, although they may. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:f6c67346dabb05356b438ab2b3ad9f74 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/f6c67346dabb05356b438ab2b3ad9f74 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260615T150000Z DTEND:20260616T053000Z SUMMARY:Advanced Weeklong Nonfiction Workshop: Excavation with Andre Dubus III DESCRIPTION:We’ll begin with a difficult task: do not outline your novel or novella or short story or essay or memoir. Do not think out the plot\, the narrative arc\, the protagonist’s journey\, whatever you want to call it. Instead\, try to find the story through an honest excavation of the characters’ total experience of the situation in which they find themselves. Do that\, and the story will begin to write itself. But how\, precisely\, does one go about this “excavation”? And how\, technically speaking\, can we ignite a story into “writing itself”? Come to this workshop\, and we’ll demystify those writerly tools and skills that\, time and time again\, if they are sharp enough\, and if the writer can summon enough daily faith and nerve\, can penetrate the mystery of story itself. Fiction\, as well as creative nonfiction is welcome. We will be doing in-class writing exercises and workshopping each participant’s submission. CATEGORIES:NONFICTION/MEMOIR LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:1bb93fff07fc92913022c1ba4b75fffb URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/1bb93fff07fc92913022c1ba4b75fffb END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260615T150000Z DTEND:20260616T053000Z SUMMARY:Advanced Weeklong Nonfiction Workshop: Find Your Focus with Beth Nguyen DESCRIPTION:Maybe you’ve been wanting to try writing creative nonfiction. Maybe you have been writing it but are feeling a little bit stuck. Maybe you’re restless\, curious. Maybe you’re wondering how to create a cohesive work out of a lifetime of material. Where to start? How to shape it? This generative workshop is geared toward inspiration\, starts and restarts\, and rethinking nonfiction\, at any level. Whether you’re interested in memoir\, essays\, memoir-in-essays\, or anything in between\, you’ll find guidance\, support\, writing prompts\, and discussion aimed at helping you figure out your writing process. We’ll talk about ideas\, structure\, perspective\, ethical concerns (how do we know what we should write? how do we write about other people?)\, and more. This workshop is all about gaining greater focus and understanding as we generate work and ideas in a fun and supportive environment. CATEGORIES:NONFICTION/MEMOIR LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:261d3c279bcf767698f6ab309c58fc56 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/261d3c279bcf767698f6ab309c58fc56 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260615T150000Z DTEND:20260616T053000Z SUMMARY:Advanced Weeklong Nonfiction Workshop: Mapping the Memoir with Emily Rapp Black DESCRIPTION:Art is architecture\; art is artificial\; art is...? The biggest challenge for any writer of narrative is finding the map from beginning to end. This workshop is designed for writers working on book-length memoirs who wish to delve more deeply into the issues of structure\, style\, and voice: these three craft points will be our focus\, as they make up the net that holds a narrative together in a propulsive\, engaging\, immersive\, and beautiful way. The goal of this workshop is to take your completed manuscript to the next level. We'll also discuss different avenues of publication. CATEGORIES:NONFICTION/MEMOIR LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:cc213d19769d67ae0599f619172811d9 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/cc213d19769d67ae0599f619172811d9 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260615T150000Z DTEND:20260616T053000Z SUMMARY:Advanced Weeklong Nonfiction Workshop: Shadow Narratives with Rachel Louise Snyder DESCRIPTION:Behind every piece of narrative nonfiction there exists a dual narrative. This partnership of story with meaning is often the blend that provides memoir\, personal essay\, and narrative nonfiction pieces with both tension and emotional consequence. There is the story as it exists on the page\, and then there is the shadow narrative\, whispering behind that story\, trying to make sense of it. In this weeklong workshop\, students will be asked to explore these dual narratives in their own work and in published works from contemporary practitioners such as Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah\, Eula Biss\, Richard McCann\, and others. Particular attention will be paid to voice and point of view. CATEGORIES:NONFICTION/MEMOIR LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:c94b5d6939ba1c05938f0685edca98fc URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/c94b5d6939ba1c05938f0685edca98fc END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260615T150000Z DTEND:20260616T053000Z SUMMARY:Advanced Weeklong Poetry Workshop: Draft Exclusion with Paul Muldoon DESCRIPTION:The popular image of the poet is as a dasher off of poem drafts. So manic and mercurial are poets’ imaginations that not even champion typists can keep abreast of them. If there’s a problem\, it’s something to which they can return in a quiet moment way down the road. The focus of this week will be to set ourselves against this popular image\, to make every moment a quiet moment\, to fix problems as they arise\, to revise even as the poem’s vision for itself is slowly coming into being and\, in the end\, to cut down on a lot of unnecessary work. The key to this approach is to write the poem one line at a time\, to allow one idea to lead to another\, and to avoid getting ahead of ourselves. When we implement this approach\, the poem is now\, paradoxically\, more likely to bring us to a place of genuine immediacy and vitality which had hitherto been illusory. CATEGORIES:POETRY LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:b416ecc5c4cf3dda39111ae35ebea699 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/b416ecc5c4cf3dda39111ae35ebea699 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260615T150000Z DTEND:20260616T053000Z SUMMARY:No Genre/All Genre Generative Lab with Eileen Myles DESCRIPTION:In this weeklong seminar\, poets\, fiction writers\, and memoirists (and even non-writers) will re-consider and even de-rail their works in progress (or write new ones) informed by some new approaches\, formal constraints\, good talk\, and engagement with other art forms. We’ll write at least four pieces this week\, taking cues from the history of poetry and prose\, music\, photos\, and film\, and we will effectively banish the lines that separate these forms of expression in order to instill our own work with the real breadth of this postmodern world. Bring a song\, a problem (aesthetic or personal)\, or at least one significant photo\, stuffed animal\, flyer\, something—a piece of real or artificial fruit. The goal is to create a live working environment\, a studio effect\, in order to generate more work and to get reinstalled or re-awakened in our writing process.\n \n *Since this is a generative class and can accommodate a few more people\, Eileen cannot meet one-on-one with each participant\, but they tend to be around Lit Fest and there are ample opportunities for additional talks. CATEGORIES:POETRY LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:1bd57c401ba6e70993bb738d7128f397 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/1bd57c401ba6e70993bb738d7128f397 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260615T150000Z DTEND:20260616T053000Z SUMMARY:Writing for Young Adults DESCRIPTION:Description forthcoming CATEGORIES:YA/CHILDREN'S LOCATION:Virtual SEQUENCE:0 UID:9853176225a587ba5b114e0688478ec0 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/9853176225a587ba5b114e0688478ec0 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260615T180000Z DTEND:20260615T190000Z SUMMARY:Lunchtime Business Panel: Through the Fire—Debut Writers on Their First Books DESCRIPTION:Panelists include: Lior Torenberg\, Katie Boland\, Amanda McCracken\, Susan Golomb (Writers House).\n\nDebut year has a shape everyone recognizes—the thrill\, the terror\, the mystifying silence that follows. But what happens after? Four writers with books out in the last year talk honestly about what the debut actually taught them\, how they're thinking about the next book\, and what building a sustainable literary life really looks like once the confetti settles. Less "how to launch" and more "how to last"—useful for writers at every stage. This crew will also be joined by one of our visiting agents\, who will give their take. CATEGORIES:ALL GENRES LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:bf0b5ad49a7e3d9dbe2675253fe6639e URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/bf0b5ad49a7e3d9dbe2675253fe6639e END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260615T180000Z DTEND:20260615T190000Z SUMMARY:Lunchtime Business Panel: Through the Fire—Debut Writers on Their First Books (Livestream) DESCRIPTION:Panelists include: Lior Torenberg\, Katie Boland\, Amanda McCracken\, Susan Golomb (Writers House).\n\nDebut year has a shape everyone recognizes—the thrill\, the terror\, the mystifying silence that follows. But what happens after? Four writers with books out in the last year talk honestly about what the debut actually taught them\, how they're thinking about the next book\, and what building a sustainable literary life really looks like once the confetti settles. Less "how to launch" and more "how to last"—useful for writers at every stage. This crew will also be joined by one of our visiting agents\, who will give their take. CATEGORIES:ALL GENRES LOCATION:Virtual SEQUENCE:0 UID:c9af472b599b0db193e46fe6c8612ffc URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/c9af472b599b0db193e46fe6c8612ffc END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260615T190000Z DTEND:20260615T220000Z SUMMARY:Two-Day Intensive: Finish the Nonfiction Book—Everything but the Pages DESCRIPTION:This craft seminar is about everything except the pages. We'll talk through queries\, proposals\, research\, drafting\, editing\, refinement\, and\, most importantly\, designing a project plan so you can complete your book while staying sane. You'll leave with templates and examples of what different authors use to keep on track and a project plan specific to your book. Organization is an author's best friend\, and this seminar will help you set yourself up for success. CATEGORIES:PUBLISHING/CAREER LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:15443eb35db7ee8b7b3205b8a2ae2674 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/15443eb35db7ee8b7b3205b8a2ae2674 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260615T193000Z DTEND:20260615T213000Z SUMMARY:Advanced Structure Lab: Break the Story Free with Dean Bakopoulos DESCRIPTION:In this seminar designed for screenwriters and prose writers of all levels\, we’ll use dramatic structure to help us get unstuck. Bring along a draft that’s failing or an idea that’s not finding a form\, and we’ll explore the intricacies and opportunities of narrative structure. Over the course of this week\, we’ll utilize a four-part system Bakopoulos developed while writing television pilot scripts (but that YOU can apply to any form of narrative writing—short stories\, memoirs\, novels\, screenplays\, TV scripts\, plays etc.) to move past any literary obstructions you’re battling.\n \n \n While no system is a magic potion that can take away the agonies of creation\, this character-based approach to structure allows you to rethink the possibilities of your project. We'll discuss characters and their journeys towards liberation\, as well as the notion of dramatic escalation\, the tension between exposition and plot\, the construction of compelling scenes\, and the importance of unexpected dialogue and minor characters. We’ll watch scenes from great television pilot episodes and feature films as examples to illustrate these principles\;we’ll also read a few passages of prose.\n \n \n We’ll take part in at least one generative exercise per session\; by the fifth day of the course\, you will have a shiny new four-part outline that will help you successfully revise\, or finally draft\, a stuck project.\n \n \n *Dean's weeklong seminar is two hours each day and does not include one-on-one meetings. The tuition is also adjusted (down) from the typical weeklong workshop. CATEGORIES:DRAMATIC WRITING LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:28c97aab215fdc35cb01ce5a2a7e79bc URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/28c97aab215fdc35cb01ce5a2a7e79bc END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260615T193000Z DTEND:20260615T213000Z SUMMARY:Bait the Hook: Your First Few Pages DESCRIPTION:The first few pages of a story are the tryout\; after that\, the reader makes a decision to keep reading or move on. How can you “hook” your readers and immerse them in your narrative world? What techniques do you need to create a firm writer-reader contract? In this content-heavy class\, we’ll explore hooks and expositions (a.k.a. beginnings): how to introduce your characters\, ground your readers in your novel/memoir/short story/essay\, and begin the art of narrative intrigue. Bring your ideas to class\, and leave with new beginnings you can use immediately. Open to all prose writers.\n\nThis is the in-person version of this event. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:3c267c38c3be0ad2233d88b451b949ab URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/3c267c38c3be0ad2233d88b451b949ab END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260615T193000Z DTEND:20260615T213000Z SUMMARY:Bait the Hook: Your First Few Pages (Livestream) DESCRIPTION:The first few pages of a story are the tryout\; after that\, the reader makes a decision to keep reading or move on. How can you “hook” your readers and immerse them in your narrative world? What techniques do you need to create a firm writer-reader contract? In this content-heavy class\, we’ll explore hooks and expositions (a.k.a. beginnings): how to introduce your characters\, ground your readers in your novel/memoir/short story/essay\, and begin the art of narrative intrigue. Bring your ideas to class\, and leave with new beginnings you can use immediately. Open to all prose writers.\n\nThis is the livestream version of this event. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:Virtual SEQUENCE:0 UID:786f609c8d0492100a7e47190eb1f0c3 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/786f609c8d0492100a7e47190eb1f0c3 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260615T193000Z DTEND:20260615T213000Z SUMMARY:Every Sentence an Ocean: Concision and Compression in Flash-Fiction DESCRIPTION:As anyone who’s ever sat down to write a flash story or essay knows\, it can be incredibly difficult to fit an entire narrative into 1\,000 words or less. Even more difficult: lacing that narrative with enough tension and emotional complexity to make your readers feel like they’ve devoured a much longer work. In this two-hour craft seminar\, we’ll break down George Saunders’ 1995 flash fiction masterpiece “Sticks” on a sentence-by-sentence level to examine and emulate how he packs an entire ocean of complexity—and decades of narrative time—into just 392 words. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:cefddacfbd5a96c01389fdb4c8b1407c URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/cefddacfbd5a96c01389fdb4c8b1407c END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260615T193000Z DTEND:20260615T213000Z SUMMARY:From Morally Gray to Black: Creating Flawed and Unscrupulous Protagonists DESCRIPTION:Bret Easton Ellis\, author of American Psycho\, claims: “The best way to create a memorable character is to make them both repellent and fascinating at the same time.” Indeed\, more crucial than the likability of a protagonist is his/her charisma—even if that charisma only serves to hide complicated or even depraved psyches. In this class\, we’ll explore some morally questionable protagonists from authors such as Jim Thompson\, Patricia Highsmith\, and Flannery O’Connor. We’ll then try our hand at creating some of these fascinating\, and sometimes terrifying\, characters in our own work. The class will combine readings\, writings\, and discussions\, and when we're finished you should be comfortable writing from the POV of not-so-sympathetic characters. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:7d0cd54fdc4d53a15d501ee8e46d8c8b URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/7d0cd54fdc4d53a15d501ee8e46d8c8b END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260615T193000Z DTEND:20260615T213000Z SUMMARY:Novel Whispering DESCRIPTION:Have a novel that you just can’t finish\, or finish well? Considering writing a novel and want an insight into how to actually complete one? In this seminar\, we'll identify hurdles in completing the process of novel creation\, and we’ll learn how to get over them. The seminar will provide participants with practical techniques to kickstart their manuscripts\, such as applied story structuring\, thematic tuning\, character mirroring\, and more.\nThis is the in-person version on this event. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:8b2d9bed82e541b846b5b6d883896bf3 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/8b2d9bed82e541b846b5b6d883896bf3 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260615T193000Z DTEND:20260615T213000Z SUMMARY:Novel Whispering (Livestream) DESCRIPTION:Have a novel that you just can’t finish\, or finish well? Considering writing a novel and want an insight into how to actually complete one? In this seminar\, we'll identify hurdles in completing the process of novel creation\, and we’ll learn how to get over them. The seminar will provide participants with practical techniques to kickstart their manuscripts\, such as applied story structuring\, thematic tuning\, character mirroring\, and more.\nThis is the livestream version on this event. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:Virtual SEQUENCE:0 UID:cfe8d5da6da95286c81c27a7d6e5f3ec URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/cfe8d5da6da95286c81c27a7d6e5f3ec END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260615T193000Z DTEND:20260615T213000Z SUMMARY:From Patient to Protagonist: Claiming Agency in Your Own Story DESCRIPTION:Illness can make us feel passive\, but memoir requires an active center. In this session\, we’ll practice techniques for crafting a narrator who drives the story—even when circumstances are beyond their control. In this class\, we’ll read brief examples and then draft scenes that externalize symptoms through action\, imagery\, and interaction. We’ll practice crafting vivid\, fresh metaphors and sensory details that convey what it feels like to inhabit a changed or challenged body. CATEGORIES:NONFICTION/MEMOIR LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:bfb6d3d0905a08adaa4d1fe1222a6fe8 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/bfb6d3d0905a08adaa4d1fe1222a6fe8 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260615T193000Z DTEND:20260615T213000Z SUMMARY:Squash For Golfers: Line Movement in Prose and Poetry DESCRIPTION:The defining characteristic of verse\, formal or free\, is the fact that the line makes a turn (versus) at some point before it reaches the right hand margin. There are any number of reasons why and places where that turn might be made. This seminar will focus on developing strategies for improving our sense of the line ending through readings of poems by Erika Jong\, Joyce Carol Oates\, W.G. Sebald\, Colm Toibin\, and John Updike. CATEGORIES:POETRY LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:c07ccef7f8ee3fd4ae1a69b620ded538 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/c07ccef7f8ee3fd4ae1a69b620ded538 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260615T193000Z DTEND:20260615T213000Z SUMMARY:Author Branding for Introverts and Impostors (V) DESCRIPTION:Authors in traditional publishing\, indie publishing\, and self-publishing are all expected to do a tremendous amount of the lifting in their own promotion. This part of the job of being an author stirs lots of emotional issues for many authors. This session will explore how to identify your own brand as an author and harness the power of enthusiasm to bypass imposter syndrome and prioritize self-care while finding your audience. This course is taught by a painful introvert who manages to read as a gregarious extrovert. CATEGORIES:PUBLISHING/CAREER LOCATION:Virtual SEQUENCE:0 UID:50a885ffa4f272025b5cfc023e4d086d URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/50a885ffa4f272025b5cfc023e4d086d END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260615T220000Z DTEND:20260616T000000Z SUMMARY:Creatures of Impulse: What Fictions Writers Can Learn From TV DESCRIPTION:This session will focus on the way popular TV series hook viewers\, construct scenes\, build characters\, and structure episodes. We’ll examine how this can easily be adapted to add energy to short stories\, memoirs\, novels\, and maybe even poems! We will likely use the pilot (first) episodes of Breaking Bad\, Mad Men\, Atlanta\, and Insecure as examples\, so you may want to watch those in advance. I'll show a few clips in class as time and technology allows.\n\nRegister using this link: \;\nhttps://lighthousewriters.org/workshop/creatures-impulse-what-fictions-writers-can-learn-tv?session=8993 CATEGORIES:DRAMATIC WRITING LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:cade00999f27d460fbbddecc670fa481 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/cade00999f27d460fbbddecc670fa481 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260615T220000Z DTEND:20260616T000000Z SUMMARY:How to Stop Worldbuilding and Start Worldconjuring DESCRIPTION:Writers wanting to build worlds are met with difficult questions: Should I describe the city’s sewer system for ten or twenty pages? How much to explain Frontier Utah’s rural bartering system of spiderwebs? These are also the wrong questions. As writer Lincoln Michel says\, “Worldbuilding imposes. Worldconjuring collaborates.” In this seminar\, we’ll challenge current paradigms for worldbuilding\; instead\, we’ll craft settings and circumstances through the power of detail selections\, rule systems\, and essential mysteries. Together\, we’ll ask much better questions: in your new world\, what do readers need to know and what do readers want to know? CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:3ad4638f7d56b134f7e13a4027d39f6b URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/3ad4638f7d56b134f7e13a4027d39f6b END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260615T220000Z DTEND:20260616T000000Z SUMMARY:To Flash Back or Not to Flash Back DESCRIPTION:Good characters come with a past\, but is a flashback the only way to let readers know about essential details from before the story’s start? Not necessarily. We’ll look at examples from writers who eschew flashbacks but still give readers a rich sense of a character’s past life\, including excerpts from Kent Haruf\, Jane Austen\, and more. If you choose to use flashbacks\, how do you do it well? We’ll look at the way experts including Willy Vlautin\, Susan Straight\, and Percival Everett slide gracefully in and out of flashback. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:7805ef6848513ee8bfbcd684f10d5a23 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/7805ef6848513ee8bfbcd684f10d5a23 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260615T220000Z DTEND:20260616T010000Z SUMMARY:Two-Day Intensive: Emotional Truth—Using Fiction to Tell the Whole Truth and Nothing But the Truth DESCRIPTION:This workshop will focus on how to write what you know\, taking both small and large elements of your particular human experience to create fiction. We will study other fiction writers and their techniques and do exercises based on them. This class will focus on generating new text but should be inspiring for those writers deep into a work-in-progress too. Ideally\, writers will experience a catharsis as they alchemize their hard times into art. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:03e35c44aee6c10d584abd12c06e05d2 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/03e35c44aee6c10d584abd12c06e05d2 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260615T220000Z DTEND:20260616T000000Z SUMMARY:Collage as Poetic Practice DESCRIPTION:What can poets learn from the techniques of collage? In this image & text based seminar\, we will discuss and practice collage in both written and visual mediums. Come ready to experiment and to play with textual fragments\, images\, scissors\, paper\, and glue. Participants\, please bring collage materials (things to cut up). CATEGORIES:POETRY LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:2e9937f676443047c81c4bf95df861fc URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/2e9937f676443047c81c4bf95df861fc END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260615T220000Z DTEND:20260616T000000Z SUMMARY:Letting the I Ching Help You Write Your Story (V) DESCRIPTION:Philip K. Dick claimed that he did not write one of his greatest novels\, The Man in the High Castle\, by himself. Dick discovered the I Ching when he began the novel and he claimed the I Ching co-wrote the novel with him. The I Ching is a 3\,000 year-old collection of 64 poems. It can be read as philosophy but is most famous as an oracle\, using a method of casting coins or yarrow stalks. This workshop guides students through the process of consulting the I Ching to guide the course of their story. CATEGORIES:POETRY LOCATION:Virtual SEQUENCE:0 UID:23aaf671b0a4ef6b6c67a067a9be41f5 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/23aaf671b0a4ef6b6c67a067a9be41f5 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260615T223000Z DTEND:20260616T003000Z SUMMARY:Book Project Showcase: Stolzoff\, Torenberg\, Yun\, Lennon\, and Leotaud DESCRIPTION:Come meet our very successful Book Project authors Simone Stolzoff (How to Not Know)\, Lior Torenberg (Just Watch Me)\, Marissa Leotaud (Family Affair)\, John J. Lennon (The Tragedy of True Crime)\, and Jihyun Yun (And the River Drags Her Down) read from their work and talk about writing their books. Stick around for book signings and Q&A from director William Haywood Henderson and others from the Book Project!\n\nWe will have a Sober 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. \;\nFor more resources and recovery meetings close to Lighthouse\, you can visit: https://www.yorkstreetclub.com/Schedule CATEGORIES:ALL GENRES LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:f0b16ffc82d428376ceed86c3dd778f7 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/f0b16ffc82d428376ceed86c3dd778f7 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260615T223000Z DTEND:20260616T003000Z SUMMARY:Book Project Showcase: Stolzoff\, Torenberg\, Yun\, Lennon\, and Leotaud (Livestream) DESCRIPTION:Come meet our very successful Book Project authors Simone Stolzoff (How to Not Know)\, Lior Torenberg (Just Watch Me)\, Marissa Leotaud (Family Affair)\, John J. Lennon (The Tragedy of True Crime)\, and Jihyun Yun (And the River Drags Her Down) read from their work and talk about writing their books. Stick around for book signings and Q&A from director William Haywood Henderson and others from the Book Project! CATEGORIES:ALL GENRES LOCATION:Virtual SEQUENCE:0 UID:8ed848037cb6f7210e231565eb4cdb1c URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/8ed848037cb6f7210e231565eb4cdb1c END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260616T010000Z DTEND:20260616T021500Z SUMMARY:Visiting Authors Reading: Steve Almond\, Danielle Evans\, Eileen Myles\, and Brandon Taylor DESCRIPTION:Grab a drink or a bite from our food truck and buckle down in Beacon Hall to hear your favorite visiting author perform their recent works. Afterwards\, you can shop at the Lit Fest pop-up bookstore operated by Spell Books and get your book signed. This is the in-person version of this event.\n\nWe will have a Sober 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. \;\n\nFor more resources and recovery meetings close to Lighthouse\, you can visit: https://www.yorkstreetclub.com/Schedule CATEGORIES:ALL GENRES LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:d98e32329df94b339f5822b47edd6fd3 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/d98e32329df94b339f5822b47edd6fd3 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260616T010000Z DTEND:20260616T021500Z SUMMARY:Visiting Authors Reading: Steve Almond\, Danielle Evans\, Eileen Myles\, and Brandon Taylor (Livestream) DESCRIPTION:Grab a drink or a bite from our food truck and buckle down in Beacon Hall to hear your favorite visiting author perform their recent works. Afterwards\, you can shop at the Lit Fest pop-up bookstore operated by Spell Books and get your book signed. This is the livestream version of this event. CATEGORIES:ALL GENRES LOCATION:Virtual SEQUENCE:0 UID:8f4e97c7ead557006e5182fce406d8e7 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/8f4e97c7ead557006e5182fce406d8e7 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260616T023000Z DTEND:20260616T033000Z SUMMARY:Lit Fest Faculty Reading at Fort Greene Bar: Boland\, Hodges\, Jia\, Morales\, and Stolzoff DESCRIPTION:Hear readings from members of Lighthouse’s faculty at the storied Fort Greene bar. Grab a drink\, enjoy the ambiance\, and saddle up for some great readings!\nOur roster:\nKathleen BolandNatalie HodgesClaire JiaJuan MoralesSimone Stolzoff\n CATEGORIES:ALL GENRES LOCATION:Fort Greene Bar\, 321 E 45th Ave\, Denver\, CO 80216 SEQUENCE:0 UID:14219b05685829896f1246edf8110adb URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/14219b05685829896f1246edf8110adb END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260616T150000Z DTEND:20260617T053000Z SUMMARY:Advanced Weeklong Fiction Workshop: Finding the Subterranean Story with Danielle Evans DESCRIPTION:Often\, the process of drafting fiction is one of uncovering: What is it we actually mean to be writing about\, and how can we bring that thread to the surface in revision? At the same time\, one of the great pleasures of reading is the consideration of suggestions or questions that remain just beneath the surface of the text. In this workshop\, we'll consider the “layers” of a story\, and we’ll explore how some of those subterranean layers can guide us toward structures and narrative arcs that serve the project. We'll negotiate the balance between what works best when said directly and what works best when it’s left to be discovered by the reader. Each workshop will open with discussion of a published short story and a brief responsive writing exercise\; then we’ll move to an in-depth discussion of work submitted by participants. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:1ea8e96d12d493bb62eeb5629f90924f URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/1ea8e96d12d493bb62eeb5629f90924f END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260616T150000Z DTEND:20260617T053000Z SUMMARY:Advanced Weeklong Fiction Workshop: Intimate Distance with Mat Johnson DESCRIPTION:Novels are long\, often unruly\, and inherently ambitious projects that require the writer to be both intimate with and distant from the text. It's easy to type a bunch of pages\, but it’s hard to make them captivate the reader and ensure that the journey adds up to more than the sum of its parts. This course will explore the tools needed to bring your novel-length manuscript to life in its strongest form. Your novel has strengths: we'll explore how you can build on them. Your novel has weaknesses: we'll identify them and create strategies for you to overcome them. Together\, we'll reveal what your novel is actually about\, as opposed to what you planned for it to be. We’ll examine its hidden structures\, and we’ll enable your characters and their struggles to come alive on the page. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:7f14f7df3f639860b54990c08b9df230 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/7f14f7df3f639860b54990c08b9df230 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260616T150000Z DTEND:20260617T053000Z SUMMARY:Advanced Weeklong Fiction Workshop: Situation and Event with Brandon Taylor DESCRIPTION:In this weeklong workshop\, we’ll explore the intimate relationship between situation and event in narrative using work submitted by participants. The goal is to gain a stronger understanding of and appreciation for the underlying or pre-existing dramatic context that gives meaning to plot\, character actions\, and even the structure of a piece. We’ll use this stronger understanding to develop a more thorough conceptualization of our work so that we can make exciting\, unexpected\, and more meaningful choices in our stories. We’ll be working with the below definitions: Situation: All of the facts that comprise the starting condition of a character’s life at the beginning of a given story\, novel\, scene\, or act. We may understand situation as another word for circumstance raised to the level of dramatic action and intent. Event: The event is the happening or the trigger shot of a given scene\, story\, or novel. There are capital E Events and little e events. But regardless\, both kinds of events should be drawn out of the very bedrock of your narrative and dramatic situation. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:a0443222b9599590459308f3dd5e6251 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/a0443222b9599590459308f3dd5e6251 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260616T150000Z DTEND:20260617T053000Z SUMMARY:Advanced Weeklong Fiction Workshop: The BS Detector with Steve Almond DESCRIPTION:Writing is decision making\, nothing more and nothing less. What word? Where to place the comma? How to shape the paragraph? Join Steve Almond for a workshop focused on improving the decisions you make in your writing. By looking critically and carefully at other people’s work\, you’ll walk away with a better sense of how to improve your own. The idea is not to slow your rate of composition via compulsive revision\, but to instead make better decisions in the first place and to recognize quickly when you haven’t. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:0b562adc2445b41ead43497ba7746b5f URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/0b562adc2445b41ead43497ba7746b5f END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260616T150000Z DTEND:20260617T053000Z SUMMARY:Advanced Weeklong Fiction Workshop: Who's Telling Your Story? with Christopher Castellani DESCRIPTION:The most important decision a writer makes is who tells their story. In this workshop\, we will examine each other's manuscripts primarily through the lens of point of view and by using the concept of narrative strategy\, but we will also take each manuscript as a whole and discuss how all the craft elements are working together. The primary question we will ask is\, "How can the manuscript be a stronger\, deeper version of itself?" This workshop is open to short story writers and novelists with stand-alone excerpts. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:fca8d108f38e8c2013e97b1ac9f32165 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/fca8d108f38e8c2013e97b1ac9f32165 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260616T150000Z DTEND:20260617T053000Z SUMMARY:Advanced Weeklong Generative Fiction Workshop: Starting\, or Starting Over with Rebecca Makkai DESCRIPTION:In this generative workshop\, we’ll either begin brand new pieces\, or begin a brand new version of an old piece. In either case\, we’ll use our clean slates to find startling originality\, optimal angles of approach\, and the energies that will carry a story or novel through to the end. We’ll write both in class and outside of class and (voluntarily) share what we’ve written. In the last two days of class\, we’ll squeeze in mini-workshops on everyone’s opening page. Accepted participants do not need to come in with an idea of what to write\, although they may. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:6bf19f8b0196075d1ae28b3e1f9f5e96 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/6bf19f8b0196075d1ae28b3e1f9f5e96 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260616T150000Z DTEND:20260617T053000Z SUMMARY:Advanced Weeklong Nonfiction Workshop: Excavation with Andre Dubus III DESCRIPTION:We’ll begin with a difficult task: do not outline your novel or novella or short story or essay or memoir. Do not think out the plot\, the narrative arc\, the protagonist’s journey\, whatever you want to call it. Instead\, try to find the story through an honest excavation of the characters’ total experience of the situation in which they find themselves. Do that\, and the story will begin to write itself. But how\, precisely\, does one go about this “excavation”? And how\, technically speaking\, can we ignite a story into “writing itself”? Come to this workshop\, and we’ll demystify those writerly tools and skills that\, time and time again\, if they are sharp enough\, and if the writer can summon enough daily faith and nerve\, can penetrate the mystery of story itself. Fiction\, as well as creative nonfiction is welcome. We will be doing in-class writing exercises and workshopping each participant’s submission. CATEGORIES:NONFICTION/MEMOIR LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:b62b20d3566b84b4de014d7a0577e740 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/b62b20d3566b84b4de014d7a0577e740 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260616T150000Z DTEND:20260617T053000Z SUMMARY:Advanced Weeklong Nonfiction Workshop: Find Your Focus with Beth Nguyen DESCRIPTION:Maybe you’ve been wanting to try writing creative nonfiction. Maybe you have been writing it but are feeling a little bit stuck. Maybe you’re restless\, curious. Maybe you’re wondering how to create a cohesive work out of a lifetime of material. Where to start? How to shape it? This generative workshop is geared toward inspiration\, starts and restarts\, and rethinking nonfiction\, at any level. Whether you’re interested in memoir\, essays\, memoir-in-essays\, or anything in between\, you’ll find guidance\, support\, writing prompts\, and discussion aimed at helping you figure out your writing process. We’ll talk about ideas\, structure\, perspective\, ethical concerns (how do we know what we should write? how do we write about other people?)\, and more. This workshop is all about gaining greater focus and understanding as we generate work and ideas in a fun and supportive environment. CATEGORIES:NONFICTION/MEMOIR LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:65aa6a91776736c9b9833a8a8852266e URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/65aa6a91776736c9b9833a8a8852266e END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260616T150000Z DTEND:20260617T053000Z SUMMARY:Advanced Weeklong Nonfiction Workshop: Mapping the Memoir with Emily Rapp Black DESCRIPTION:Art is architecture\; art is artificial\; art is...? The biggest challenge for any writer of narrative is finding the map from beginning to end. This workshop is designed for writers working on book-length memoirs who wish to delve more deeply into the issues of structure\, style\, and voice: these three craft points will be our focus\, as they make up the net that holds a narrative together in a propulsive\, engaging\, immersive\, and beautiful way. The goal of this workshop is to take your completed manuscript to the next level. We'll also discuss different avenues of publication. CATEGORIES:NONFICTION/MEMOIR LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:089716cf2a6ca50d53c3a067759c1283 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/089716cf2a6ca50d53c3a067759c1283 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260616T150000Z DTEND:20260617T053000Z SUMMARY:Advanced Weeklong Nonfiction Workshop: Shadow Narratives with Rachel Louise Snyder DESCRIPTION:Behind every piece of narrative nonfiction there exists a dual narrative. This partnership of story with meaning is often the blend that provides memoir\, personal essay\, and narrative nonfiction pieces with both tension and emotional consequence. There is the story as it exists on the page\, and then there is the shadow narrative\, whispering behind that story\, trying to make sense of it. In this weeklong workshop\, students will be asked to explore these dual narratives in their own work and in published works from contemporary practitioners such as Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah\, Eula Biss\, Richard McCann\, and others. Particular attention will be paid to voice and point of view. CATEGORIES:NONFICTION/MEMOIR LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:275d57f25fb3e4cbac591b730860b31b URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/275d57f25fb3e4cbac591b730860b31b END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260616T150000Z DTEND:20260617T053000Z SUMMARY:Advanced Weeklong Poetry Workshop: Draft Exclusion with Paul Muldoon DESCRIPTION:The popular image of the poet is as a dasher off of poem drafts. So manic and mercurial are poets’ imaginations that not even champion typists can keep abreast of them. If there’s a problem\, it’s something to which they can return in a quiet moment way down the road. The focus of this week will be to set ourselves against this popular image\, to make every moment a quiet moment\, to fix problems as they arise\, to revise even as the poem’s vision for itself is slowly coming into being and\, in the end\, to cut down on a lot of unnecessary work. The key to this approach is to write the poem one line at a time\, to allow one idea to lead to another\, and to avoid getting ahead of ourselves. When we implement this approach\, the poem is now\, paradoxically\, more likely to bring us to a place of genuine immediacy and vitality which had hitherto been illusory. CATEGORIES:POETRY LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:fd254d54c99c07dbed4bcc91d4a647ef URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/fd254d54c99c07dbed4bcc91d4a647ef END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260616T150000Z DTEND:20260617T053000Z SUMMARY:Literary Lightning: Finding the Poetry in Your Prose (V) DESCRIPTION:Are there lines in your stories or essays that\, when you reread them\, contain multitudes? Ideas in which your thinking has deepened or changed? How do you pull threads from previously written prose and turn it into prose poetry or hybrid prose? What was once an essay may carry the seeds of a flash essay\, prose poem or song. We’ll explore work that began in one form and transformed into another and talk about how to do that for a piece of our own. CATEGORIES:POETRY LOCATION:Virtual SEQUENCE:0 UID:098d557e95180a67a4878141e0430296 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/098d557e95180a67a4878141e0430296 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260616T150000Z DTEND:20260617T053000Z SUMMARY:No Genre/All Genre Generative Lab with Eileen Myles DESCRIPTION:In this weeklong seminar\, poets\, fiction writers\, and memoirists (and even non-writers) will re-consider and even de-rail their works in progress (or write new ones) informed by some new approaches\, formal constraints\, good talk\, and engagement with other art forms. We’ll write at least four pieces this week\, taking cues from the history of poetry and prose\, music\, photos\, and film\, and we will effectively banish the lines that separate these forms of expression in order to instill our own work with the real breadth of this postmodern world. Bring a song\, a problem (aesthetic or personal)\, or at least one significant photo\, stuffed animal\, flyer\, something—a piece of real or artificial fruit. The goal is to create a live working environment\, a studio effect\, in order to generate more work and to get reinstalled or re-awakened in our writing process.\n \n *Since this is a generative class and can accommodate a few more people\, Eileen cannot meet one-on-one with each participant\, but they tend to be around Lit Fest and there are ample opportunities for additional talks. CATEGORIES:POETRY LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:08a7500821b5f44dbfaf6ddb953fe60e URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/08a7500821b5f44dbfaf6ddb953fe60e END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260616T180000Z DTEND:20260616T190000Z SUMMARY:Lunchtime Business Panel: After the Debut—Life as a Working Writer DESCRIPTION:Panelists include: Claire Jia\, Simone Stolzoff\, Seth Brady Tucker\, and Hannah Strouth (Sanford J. Greenburger Associates).\n\nDebut year has a shape everyone recognizes—the thrill\, the terror\, the mystifying silence that follows. But what happens after? Four writers with books out in the last year talk honestly about what the debut actually taught them\, how they're thinking about the next book\, and what building a sustainable literary life really looks like once the confetti settles. Less "how to launch" and more "how to last"—useful for writers at every stage. This crew will also be joined by one of our visiting agents\, who will give their take. CATEGORIES:ALL GENRES LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:f49bc3f5f3a7916f4b3fa350e50a6fa1 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/f49bc3f5f3a7916f4b3fa350e50a6fa1 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260616T180000Z DTEND:20260616T190000Z SUMMARY:Lunchtime Business Panel: After the Debut—Life as a Working Writer (Livestream) DESCRIPTION:Panelists include: Claire Jia\, Simone Stolzoff\, Seth Brady Tucker\, and Hannah Strouth (Sanford J. Greenburger Associates).\n\nDebut year has a shape everyone recognizes—the thrill\, the terror\, the mystifying silence that follows. But what happens after? Four writers with books out in the last year talk honestly about what the debut actually taught them\, how they're thinking about the next book\, and what building a sustainable literary life really looks like once the confetti settles. Less "how to launch" and more "how to last"—useful for writers at every stage. This crew will also be joined by one of our visiting agents\, who will give their take. CATEGORIES:ALL GENRES LOCATION:Virtual SEQUENCE:0 UID:785dad35b006777c854cae5e72e0fa93 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/785dad35b006777c854cae5e72e0fa93 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260616T190000Z DTEND:20260616T220000Z SUMMARY:Two-Day Intensive: Finish the Nonfiction Book—Everything but the Pages DESCRIPTION:This craft seminar is about everything except the pages. We'll talk through queries\, proposals\, research\, drafting\, editing\, refinement\, and\, most importantly\, designing a project plan so you can complete your book while staying sane. You'll leave with templates and examples of what different authors use to keep on track and a project plan specific to your book. Organization is an author's best friend\, and this seminar will help you set yourself up for success. CATEGORIES:PUBLISHING/CAREER LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:38f98deb666612ec1b588437227afaa6 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/38f98deb666612ec1b588437227afaa6 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260616T193000Z DTEND:20260616T213000Z SUMMARY:Advanced Structure Lab: Break the Story Free with Dean Bakopoulos DESCRIPTION:In this seminar designed for screenwriters and prose writers of all levels\, we’ll use dramatic structure to help us get unstuck. Bring along a draft that’s failing or an idea that’s not finding a form\, and we’ll explore the intricacies and opportunities of narrative structure. Over the course of this week\, we’ll utilize a four-part system Bakopoulos developed while writing television pilot scripts (but that YOU can apply to any form of narrative writing—short stories\, memoirs\, novels\, screenplays\, TV scripts\, plays etc.) to move past any literary obstructions you’re battling.\n \n \n While no system is a magic potion that can take away the agonies of creation\, this character-based approach to structure allows you to rethink the possibilities of your project. We'll discuss characters and their journeys towards liberation\, as well as the notion of dramatic escalation\, the tension between exposition and plot\, the construction of compelling scenes\, and the importance of unexpected dialogue and minor characters. We’ll watch scenes from great television pilot episodes and feature films as examples to illustrate these principles\;we’ll also read a few passages of prose.\n \n \n We’ll take part in at least one generative exercise per session\; by the fifth day of the course\, you will have a shiny new four-part outline that will help you successfully revise\, or finally draft\, a stuck project.\n \n \n *Dean's weeklong seminar is two hours each day and does not include one-on-one meetings. The tuition is also adjusted (down) from the typical weeklong workshop. CATEGORIES:DRAMATIC WRITING LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:8768eadbbd19300df107e3c6bd33204c URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/8768eadbbd19300df107e3c6bd33204c END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260616T193000Z DTEND:20260616T213000Z SUMMARY:Finding the Heart and Body of Your Memoir (V) DESCRIPTION:One of the biggest challenges in writing memoir or essays is finding the focus and structure. So many directions tempt us before we find our best way forward. In this invigorating seminar\, we’ll explore tools and approaches for sussing out the heart of the memoir\, and from there\, consider possibilities for organizing it (chronologically\, thematically\, as an essay collection\, or even as a collage of vignettes). We’ll do some short exercises to clarify what our memoir or essay wants to be and how we can realize that potential. Ample handouts will be provided. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:Virtual SEQUENCE:0 UID:5874ff8aa7f32558ea19e99862fca17c URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/5874ff8aa7f32558ea19e99862fca17c END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260616T193000Z DTEND:20260616T213000Z SUMMARY:I Hate You\, Too: Writing Antagonistic Relationships DESCRIPTION:Our friends are close\, but our enemies are uncomfortably closer\, and the protagonist-antagonist relationship is often the most intimate one in any story. For this reason\, it’s important to throw your protagonist and antagonist together in all sorts of interesting ways\, so the torture can begin. In this hands-on\, exercise-driven class\, we’ll craft that antagonistic relationship to hit as many trigger points as possible\, creating story-propelling conflict and change. Open to all prose writers. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:6131c959f74b7bc6d0a2d1a040dac18f URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/6131c959f74b7bc6d0a2d1a040dac18f END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260616T193000Z DTEND:20260616T213000Z SUMMARY:Information Underload: What Each Precious Paragraph Communicates to a Reader DESCRIPTION:We’re writers. We want to beguile our readers so we write and re-write\, polish and agonize over every word and comma. But what information is the reader taking away? And does it match our intentions? In this two-hour session\, we’ll examine paragraphs—published examples and our own—and identify what types of information readers glean\, how it advances or deepens the plot\, story\, and characters. When it doesn’t achieve our designs\, we’ll diagnose why\, what we want to change\, and most importantly\, how to do so. This is an interactive session in which writers examine their own work\, so please bring (or have available) some pages of manuscript. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:ee1a36a6be38bd392a9f73a87df86cf8 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/ee1a36a6be38bd392a9f73a87df86cf8 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260616T193000Z DTEND:20260616T213000Z SUMMARY:Reader in the Room DESCRIPTION:Writers are often told to “write from the heart\,” but if the goal is to move or connect with others\, audience matters. This two-hour class explores how powerful nonfiction honors both the writer’s truth and the reader’s experience. We’ll look at what audiences really want—to be invited into another’s world\, to feel tension and release\, to understand what’s at stake. Through short readings\, discussion\, and exercises\, you'll learn to balance authenticity with craft—using the tools that make nonfiction not just true\, but felt. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:96648e867938a98f3607c2d3ff3f98e0 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/96648e867938a98f3607c2d3ff3f98e0 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260616T193000Z DTEND:20260616T213000Z SUMMARY:Survey of Interiority DESCRIPTION:Using readings and examples from a variety of modes—short fiction\, novels\, cinema\, and drama—this seminar provides a survey of interiority in narrative writing. We’ll examine and explore the technical challenges of writing interiority as well as the narrative and aesthetic motivations that accompany the concept. At the end of the seminar\, we’ll engage in short writing exercises to synthesize and practice these techniques.\nThis is the in-person version of this event. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:36bf3c3ac41939036d7715404aa009a3 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/36bf3c3ac41939036d7715404aa009a3 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260616T193000Z DTEND:20260616T213000Z SUMMARY:Survey of Interiority (Livestream) DESCRIPTION:Using readings and examples from a variety of modes—short fiction\, novels\, cinema\, and drama—this seminar provides a survey of interiority in narrative writing. We’ll examine and explore the technical challenges of writing interiority as well as the narrative and aesthetic motivations that accompany the concept. At the end of the seminar\, we’ll engage in short writing exercises to synthesize and practice these techniques.\nThis is the livestream version of this event. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:Virtual SEQUENCE:0 UID:0b3f4799f1fecf8a78f06e07541c813a URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/0b3f4799f1fecf8a78f06e07541c813a END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260616T193000Z DTEND:20260616T213000Z SUMMARY:The Cutting Room Floor: Late-Stage Revision DESCRIPTION:“I saw the angel in the marble\, and I carved until I set him free\,” Michelangelo said. What are both esoteric and practical techniques for cutting\, in late-stage revision? We’ll dig into how different writers approach this question. Bring a draft or two to this revision-based class\, in which we’ll practice techniques for excising\, removing weight\, and clarifying shapely prose. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:e67baa5011d25c4ba1ae17c89a0e16ea URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/e67baa5011d25c4ba1ae17c89a0e16ea END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260616T193000Z DTEND:20260616T213000Z SUMMARY:They Can’t Be All Bad\, Right? DESCRIPTION:Your antagonist is totally despicable. But despite horrible behavior\, they must be interesting\, fully capable of sustaining your reader\, and a substantial foil to your protagonist. They must be more than a receptacle for revenge. Avoid the one-dimensional villain and make your antagonist develop beyond their worst act. This craft class will help fiction as well as nonfiction writers give depth to despots\, frauds\, and mean actors. Writers will use generative exercises\, selected excerpts\, and discussion to explore possible positive traits in even the most deplorable characters. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:d033686206169513cf2b7e57c4e10d4d URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/d033686206169513cf2b7e57c4e10d4d END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260616T193000Z DTEND:20260616T213000Z SUMMARY:Where the Deer and the Antelope (and the Poets) Play: On the Page DESCRIPTION:With our usual poetic practice\, we might focus on clarity and meaning while letting our instincts determine the lines\, stanzas\, and punctuation. Some poems entice us to try something new. In this workshop\, we’ll play on the page in hopes of discovering new layers and poetic intentions. We’ll talk punctuation and how it honors rhythm\, including Dickinson’s emdash\, when to “and” or “&\,” and the mystery of / and // used by writers like Dana Levin. We will also consider methods of end stopping\, enjambing\, and even omitting punctuation altogether. CATEGORIES:POETRY LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:887d962eb5141f759c1bfdd209e62c9f URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/887d962eb5141f759c1bfdd209e62c9f END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260616T220000Z DTEND:20260617T000000Z SUMMARY:Hook\, Line\, and Sinker: Exploring Form Via Ruben Ostlund’s Triangle of Sadness DESCRIPTION:I recommend that every participant in this workshop watch Ruben Ostlund’s Triangle of Sadness (available on Hulu and elsewhere) before coming to class\, and then we will discuss his unique triangular form. We’ll imitate the form in a writing exercise\, coming up with a simple premise involving two characters\, expanding the premise\, and then flipping the premise entirely on its head. Come ready to write! CATEGORIES:DRAMATIC WRITING LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:762eee5b1dcc978366a78947abeb5a0a URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/762eee5b1dcc978366a78947abeb5a0a END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260616T220000Z DTEND:20260617T000000Z SUMMARY:A Wrinkle in Time: How to Manage Chronology and Structure DESCRIPTION:One of the central struggles in storytelling is that human beings are\, in essence\, time travelers. We live in the past of our memories and the future of our hopes. Thus\, when we tell stories\, we often shuttle around in time. This can be exciting\, but it more often winds up confusing the reader\, and (in my case) the writer. In this fast-paced seminar\, we’ll look at fiction and non-fiction examples of authors who manage chronology\, and structure\, masterfully. And we'll help writers learn how to do the same. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:467350bba78a343742300e04ba9d32ea URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/467350bba78a343742300e04ba9d32ea END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260616T220000Z DTEND:20260617T010000Z SUMMARY:Two-Day Intensive: Emotional Truth—Using Fiction to Tell the Whole Truth and Nothing But the Truth DESCRIPTION:This workshop will focus on how to write what you know\, taking both small and large elements of your particular human experience to create fiction. We will study other fiction writers and their techniques and do exercises based on them. This class will focus on generating new text but should be inspiring for those writers deep into a work-in-progress too. Ideally\, writers will experience a catharsis as they alchemize their hard times into art. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:6533181c7cace89006eb2d26468e831f URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/6533181c7cace89006eb2d26468e831f END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260616T220000Z DTEND:20260617T000000Z SUMMARY:Write Stronger Scenes: A Checklist DESCRIPTION:Scene work is the backbone of any story. When your scene work is strong\, your reader is pulled into the story and forget everything else. In this class\, you’ll bring in one of your scenes and will reshape it according to a check list of what makes great scene work\, including but not limited to controlling narrative distance\, writing effective dialogue\, capturing setting without being boring\, maintaining tension\, and integrating or eliminating backstory. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:3804604a9cf57d17e2e8f2f30cceff15 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/3804604a9cf57d17e2e8f2f30cceff15 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260616T220000Z DTEND:20260617T000000Z SUMMARY:Black Doubt\, Revision\, and Faith DESCRIPTION:Albert Camus reminds us that we cannot be successful writers without “black doubt.” What do we do\, then\, when this doubt feels overwhelming? What do we do when we’ve lost faith\, not only in what we’re working on\, but in our ability to ever write anything worth reading ever again? Often\, what is needed in these disheartening moments is deep revision\, a stage of artistic effort and creation that is absolutely essential and which too many writers give short shrift.\n\nThis is the in-person version of this event. CATEGORIES:NONFICTION/MEMOIR LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:b48f1f6e9b34049ccf89d608a6511e28 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/b48f1f6e9b34049ccf89d608a6511e28 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260616T220000Z DTEND:20260617T000000Z SUMMARY:Black Doubt\, Revision\, and Faith (Livestream) DESCRIPTION:Albert Camus reminds us that we cannot be successful writers without “black doubt.” What do we do\, then\, when this doubt feels overwhelming? What do we do when we’ve lost faith\, not only in what we’re working on\, but in our ability to ever write anything worth reading ever again? Often\, what is needed in these disheartening moments is deep revision\, a stage of artistic effort and creation that is absolutely essential and which too many writers give short shrift. \n\nThis is the livestream version of this event. CATEGORIES:NONFICTION/MEMOIR LOCATION:Virtual SEQUENCE:0 UID:0fb17eaeeea9c280b3230879d554d626 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/0fb17eaeeea9c280b3230879d554d626 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260616T220000Z DTEND:20260617T000000Z SUMMARY:Symbolism and Metaphor: They Aren’t Just for Fiction DESCRIPTION:So you think symbolism and metaphor are devices only fiction writers use? Everything humans do is symbolic. We create symbols\, we use them\, we misuse them. In this class\, we’ll first take a deep dive into the symbolic and the metaphorical in our everyday lives. We’ll analyze several examples of literary nonfiction that use the same devices fiction writers employ. We’ll talk about ways nonfiction writers can both deepen and complicate their own narratives and\, in the process\, understand why and how they can be beneficial. CATEGORIES:NONFICTION/MEMOIR LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:528b3bb73bc6feca33e58b47190440fe URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/528b3bb73bc6feca33e58b47190440fe END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260616T220000Z DTEND:20260617T000000Z SUMMARY:Forms and Functions: Poetic and Otherwise DESCRIPTION:In this generative workshop\, we'll try our hand at writing poems using some newish\, wild\, and invented forms---like the burning haibun\, the duplex\, and more. Bring your rhymes and schemes and creative impulses\, and be ready to write\, sing\, count\, and laugh. CATEGORIES:POETRY LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:d06b7a1d7a37e45d88ef9a63165f4331 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/d06b7a1d7a37e45d88ef9a63165f4331 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260616T220000Z DTEND:20260617T010000Z SUMMARY:Two-Day Intensive: Being a Romantic Poet in the 21st Century DESCRIPTION:How might Romanticism translate to our time? In this workshop\, we'll carry its core precepts—spontaneity\, accessible language\, the connection between nature and human creativity\, the power of individual imagination—into contemporary poetry. Drawing on Keats\, Wordsworth\, and Blake\, we'll make our own departures into visionary lyricism. CATEGORIES:POETRY LOCATION:Virtual SEQUENCE:0 UID:32d3fbae38852b58bb11990194e87138 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/32d3fbae38852b58bb11990194e87138 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260616T220000Z DTEND:20260617T000000Z SUMMARY:ChatGPT Is My Secretary (V) DESCRIPTION:ChatGPT is awful. It’s a plagiarist\, it lies and fabricates\, it will run us out of our jobs…but it’s also free\, exploitable\, non-human labor! AI can be the answer to our harried dreams: a sometimes-reliable entity to perform research\, consolidation\, organization\, and administrative tasks that would otherwise take us hours or months to do. What are the many ways a writer can use recent technologies to save ourselves valuable time and labor? How much can we trust it\, and what are the ways we really shouldn’t? No technical knowledge needed\; your instructor doesn’t have any\, either. CATEGORIES:WRITING PROCESS LOCATION:Virtual SEQUENCE:0 UID:3f486dde923bd9eedb7468e16e175351 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/3f486dde923bd9eedb7468e16e175351 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260616T223000Z DTEND:20260617T000000Z SUMMARY:Lit Fest Fellows Showcase and Reading DESCRIPTION:Help us celebrate the exceptional talent among \;this year’s Lit Fest Fellowship winners. Happy Hour beverages and snacks available (and see below about sober space options). Our lineup:\n\nVeteran Writing Awardees\nReed Kuehn\nMatt Eidson\n\nFellowship for Emerging Writers\nPoetry: Christiana Castillo\n(selected by Eduardo Corral)\n\nFiction: Marcie Alexander\nRunner up: Blake Foster-Wagamon\nDistinguished finalists: Hema Padhu & Evander Reyes\n(selected by Ramona Ausubel)\n\nNonfiction: Sarah Kiley\nRunner Up: Julia Marquez-Uppman\n(selected by Elissa Washuta)\n\nLARRK Fellowship Winners\nRachel Nielsen\nMax Miller\n\nWe will have a Sober 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. \;\n\nFor more resources and recovery meetings close to Lighthouse\, you can visit: https://www.yorkstreetclub.com/Schedule CATEGORIES:ALL GENRES LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:b3d5ecc0cf0d9994717a3942eee56c0d URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/b3d5ecc0cf0d9994717a3942eee56c0d END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260616T223000Z DTEND:20260617T000000Z SUMMARY:Lit Fest Fellows Showcase and Reading (Livestream) DESCRIPTION:Help us celebrate the exceptional talent among \;this year’s Lit Fest Fellowship winners. Happy Hour beverages and snacks available (and see below about sober space options). Our lineup:\n\nVeteran Writing Awardees\nReed Kuehn\nMatt Eidson\n\nFellowship for Emerging Writers\nPoetry: Christiana Castillo\n(selected by Eduardo Corral)\n\nFiction: Marcie Alexander\nRunner up: Blake Foster-Wagamon\nDistinguished finalists: Hema Padhu & Evander Reyes\n(selected by Ramona Ausubel)\n\nNonfiction: Sarah Kiley\nRunner Up: Julia Marquez-Uppman\n(selected by Elissa Washuta)\n\nLARRK Fellowship Winners\nRachel Nielsen\nMax Miller CATEGORIES:ALL GENRES LOCATION:Virtual SEQUENCE:0 UID:991d1396254f3bfb94f2f3419741cc76 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/991d1396254f3bfb94f2f3419741cc76 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260617T010000Z DTEND:20260617T021500Z SUMMARY:Visiting Authors Reading: Emily Rapp Black\, Mat Johnson\, Rebecca Makkai\, and Beth Nguyen DESCRIPTION:Grab a drink or a bite from our food truck and buckle down in Beacon Hall to hear your favorite visiting author perform their recent works. Afterwards\, you can shop at the Lit Fest pop-up bookstore operated by Spell Books and get your book signed. This is the in-person version of this event.\n\nWe will have a Sober 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. \;\n\nFor more resources and recovery meetings close to Lighthouse\, you can visit: https://www.yorkstreetclub.com/Schedule CATEGORIES:ALL GENRES LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:54f8a6897e12c2019e8df002b0afef19 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/54f8a6897e12c2019e8df002b0afef19 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260617T010000Z DTEND:20260617T021500Z SUMMARY:Visiting Authors Reading: Emily Rapp Black\, Mat Johnson\, Rebecca Makkai\, and Beth Nguyen (Livestream) DESCRIPTION:Grab a drink or a bite from our food truck and buckle down in Beacon Hall to hear your favorite visiting author perform their recent works. Afterwards\, you can shop at the Lit Fest pop-up bookstore operated by Spell Books and get your book signed. This is the livestream version of this event. CATEGORIES:ALL GENRES LOCATION:Virtual SEQUENCE:0 UID:efd2b9ebbb0e2f47e31a8ad8bb09622c URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/efd2b9ebbb0e2f47e31a8ad8bb09622c END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260617T150000Z DTEND:20260618T053000Z SUMMARY:Advanced Weeklong Fiction Workshop: Finding the Subterranean Story with Danielle Evans DESCRIPTION:Often\, the process of drafting fiction is one of uncovering: What is it we actually mean to be writing about\, and how can we bring that thread to the surface in revision? At the same time\, one of the great pleasures of reading is the consideration of suggestions or questions that remain just beneath the surface of the text. In this workshop\, we'll consider the “layers” of a story\, and we’ll explore how some of those subterranean layers can guide us toward structures and narrative arcs that serve the project. We'll negotiate the balance between what works best when said directly and what works best when it’s left to be discovered by the reader. Each workshop will open with discussion of a published short story and a brief responsive writing exercise\; then we’ll move to an in-depth discussion of work submitted by participants. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:d535abc1db85fc020b8f855ec2e02bad URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/d535abc1db85fc020b8f855ec2e02bad END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260617T150000Z DTEND:20260618T053000Z SUMMARY:Advanced Weeklong Fiction Workshop: Intimate Distance with Mat Johnson DESCRIPTION:Novels are long\, often unruly\, and inherently ambitious projects that require the writer to be both intimate with and distant from the text. It's easy to type a bunch of pages\, but it’s hard to make them captivate the reader and ensure that the journey adds up to more than the sum of its parts. This course will explore the tools needed to bring your novel-length manuscript to life in its strongest form. Your novel has strengths: we'll explore how you can build on them. Your novel has weaknesses: we'll identify them and create strategies for you to overcome them. Together\, we'll reveal what your novel is actually about\, as opposed to what you planned for it to be. We’ll examine its hidden structures\, and we’ll enable your characters and their struggles to come alive on the page. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:2f4a2249e9f6c28e0455c55dd30ab5f5 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/2f4a2249e9f6c28e0455c55dd30ab5f5 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260617T150000Z DTEND:20260618T053000Z SUMMARY:Advanced Weeklong Fiction Workshop: Situation and Event with Brandon Taylor DESCRIPTION:In this weeklong workshop\, we’ll explore the intimate relationship between situation and event in narrative using work submitted by participants. The goal is to gain a stronger understanding of and appreciation for the underlying or pre-existing dramatic context that gives meaning to plot\, character actions\, and even the structure of a piece. We’ll use this stronger understanding to develop a more thorough conceptualization of our work so that we can make exciting\, unexpected\, and more meaningful choices in our stories. We’ll be working with the below definitions: Situation: All of the facts that comprise the starting condition of a character’s life at the beginning of a given story\, novel\, scene\, or act. We may understand situation as another word for circumstance raised to the level of dramatic action and intent. Event: The event is the happening or the trigger shot of a given scene\, story\, or novel. There are capital E Events and little e events. But regardless\, both kinds of events should be drawn out of the very bedrock of your narrative and dramatic situation. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:58fea84ec0598b21921bc42664912ffa URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/58fea84ec0598b21921bc42664912ffa END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260617T150000Z DTEND:20260618T053000Z SUMMARY:Advanced Weeklong Fiction Workshop: The BS Detector with Steve Almond DESCRIPTION:Writing is decision making\, nothing more and nothing less. What word? Where to place the comma? How to shape the paragraph? Join Steve Almond for a workshop focused on improving the decisions you make in your writing. By looking critically and carefully at other people’s work\, you’ll walk away with a better sense of how to improve your own. The idea is not to slow your rate of composition via compulsive revision\, but to instead make better decisions in the first place and to recognize quickly when you haven’t. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:9d7e91909bdda5bdab97c044f49bf2d1 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/9d7e91909bdda5bdab97c044f49bf2d1 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260617T150000Z DTEND:20260618T053000Z SUMMARY:Advanced Weeklong Fiction Workshop: Who's Telling Your Story? with Christopher Castellani DESCRIPTION:The most important decision a writer makes is who tells their story. In this workshop\, we will examine each other's manuscripts primarily through the lens of point of view and by using the concept of narrative strategy\, but we will also take each manuscript as a whole and discuss how all the craft elements are working together. The primary question we will ask is\, "How can the manuscript be a stronger\, deeper version of itself?" This workshop is open to short story writers and novelists with stand-alone excerpts. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:94adb044140eb72cfb21b1097576899c URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/94adb044140eb72cfb21b1097576899c END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260617T150000Z DTEND:20260618T053000Z SUMMARY:Advanced Weeklong Generative Fiction Workshop: Starting\, or Starting Over with Rebecca Makkai DESCRIPTION:In this generative workshop\, we’ll either begin brand new pieces\, or begin a brand new version of an old piece. In either case\, we’ll use our clean slates to find startling originality\, optimal angles of approach\, and the energies that will carry a story or novel through to the end. We’ll write both in class and outside of class and (voluntarily) share what we’ve written. In the last two days of class\, we’ll squeeze in mini-workshops on everyone’s opening page. Accepted participants do not need to come in with an idea of what to write\, although they may. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:ed33ee7bd3ac920dff5576022ac682f8 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/ed33ee7bd3ac920dff5576022ac682f8 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260617T150000Z DTEND:20260618T053000Z SUMMARY:Advanced Weeklong Nonfiction Workshop: Excavation with Andre Dubus III DESCRIPTION:We’ll begin with a difficult task: do not outline your novel or novella or short story or essay or memoir. Do not think out the plot\, the narrative arc\, the protagonist’s journey\, whatever you want to call it. Instead\, try to find the story through an honest excavation of the characters’ total experience of the situation in which they find themselves. Do that\, and the story will begin to write itself. But how\, precisely\, does one go about this “excavation”? And how\, technically speaking\, can we ignite a story into “writing itself”? Come to this workshop\, and we’ll demystify those writerly tools and skills that\, time and time again\, if they are sharp enough\, and if the writer can summon enough daily faith and nerve\, can penetrate the mystery of story itself. Fiction\, as well as creative nonfiction is welcome. We will be doing in-class writing exercises and workshopping each participant’s submission. CATEGORIES:NONFICTION/MEMOIR LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:2f2835993a9f7522e2e6158601d49d8c URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/2f2835993a9f7522e2e6158601d49d8c END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260617T150000Z DTEND:20260618T053000Z SUMMARY:Advanced Weeklong Nonfiction Workshop: Find Your Focus with Beth Nguyen DESCRIPTION:Maybe you’ve been wanting to try writing creative nonfiction. Maybe you have been writing it but are feeling a little bit stuck. Maybe you’re restless\, curious. Maybe you’re wondering how to create a cohesive work out of a lifetime of material. Where to start? How to shape it? This generative workshop is geared toward inspiration\, starts and restarts\, and rethinking nonfiction\, at any level. Whether you’re interested in memoir\, essays\, memoir-in-essays\, or anything in between\, you’ll find guidance\, support\, writing prompts\, and discussion aimed at helping you figure out your writing process. We’ll talk about ideas\, structure\, perspective\, ethical concerns (how do we know what we should write? how do we write about other people?)\, and more. This workshop is all about gaining greater focus and understanding as we generate work and ideas in a fun and supportive environment. CATEGORIES:NONFICTION/MEMOIR LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:deb5253e24990fb65bd8494c995fd79f URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/deb5253e24990fb65bd8494c995fd79f END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260617T150000Z DTEND:20260618T053000Z SUMMARY:Advanced Weeklong Nonfiction Workshop: Mapping the Memoir with Emily Rapp Black DESCRIPTION:Art is architecture\; art is artificial\; art is...? The biggest challenge for any writer of narrative is finding the map from beginning to end. This workshop is designed for writers working on book-length memoirs who wish to delve more deeply into the issues of structure\, style\, and voice: these three craft points will be our focus\, as they make up the net that holds a narrative together in a propulsive\, engaging\, immersive\, and beautiful way. The goal of this workshop is to take your completed manuscript to the next level. We'll also discuss different avenues of publication. CATEGORIES:NONFICTION/MEMOIR LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:be8f1963467ff82c143935e280e690b8 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/be8f1963467ff82c143935e280e690b8 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260617T150000Z DTEND:20260618T053000Z SUMMARY:Advanced Weeklong Nonfiction Workshop: Shadow Narratives with Rachel Louise Snyder DESCRIPTION:Behind every piece of narrative nonfiction there exists a dual narrative. This partnership of story with meaning is often the blend that provides memoir\, personal essay\, and narrative nonfiction pieces with both tension and emotional consequence. There is the story as it exists on the page\, and then there is the shadow narrative\, whispering behind that story\, trying to make sense of it. In this weeklong workshop\, students will be asked to explore these dual narratives in their own work and in published works from contemporary practitioners such as Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah\, Eula Biss\, Richard McCann\, and others. Particular attention will be paid to voice and point of view. CATEGORIES:NONFICTION/MEMOIR LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:1df2bbb4d07e9ff29d7c7432dac9f7cc URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/1df2bbb4d07e9ff29d7c7432dac9f7cc END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260617T150000Z DTEND:20260618T053000Z SUMMARY:Advanced Weeklong Poetry Workshop: Draft Exclusion with Paul Muldoon DESCRIPTION:The popular image of the poet is as a dasher off of poem drafts. So manic and mercurial are poets’ imaginations that not even champion typists can keep abreast of them. If there’s a problem\, it’s something to which they can return in a quiet moment way down the road. The focus of this week will be to set ourselves against this popular image\, to make every moment a quiet moment\, to fix problems as they arise\, to revise even as the poem’s vision for itself is slowly coming into being and\, in the end\, to cut down on a lot of unnecessary work. The key to this approach is to write the poem one line at a time\, to allow one idea to lead to another\, and to avoid getting ahead of ourselves. When we implement this approach\, the poem is now\, paradoxically\, more likely to bring us to a place of genuine immediacy and vitality which had hitherto been illusory. CATEGORIES:POETRY LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:282fa4e292015b99f02d2eb0cf6cf05a URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/282fa4e292015b99f02d2eb0cf6cf05a END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260617T150000Z DTEND:20260618T053000Z SUMMARY:No Genre/All Genre Generative Lab with Eileen Myles DESCRIPTION:In this weeklong seminar\, poets\, fiction writers\, and memoirists (and even non-writers) will re-consider and even de-rail their works in progress (or write new ones) informed by some new approaches\, formal constraints\, good talk\, and engagement with other art forms. We’ll write at least four pieces this week\, taking cues from the history of poetry and prose\, music\, photos\, and film\, and we will effectively banish the lines that separate these forms of expression in order to instill our own work with the real breadth of this postmodern world. Bring a song\, a problem (aesthetic or personal)\, or at least one significant photo\, stuffed animal\, flyer\, something—a piece of real or artificial fruit. The goal is to create a live working environment\, a studio effect\, in order to generate more work and to get reinstalled or re-awakened in our writing process.\n \n *Since this is a generative class and can accommodate a few more people\, Eileen cannot meet one-on-one with each participant\, but they tend to be around Lit Fest and there are ample opportunities for additional talks. CATEGORIES:POETRY LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:209bc6c11085e108dde1b4e89adc4e3e URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/209bc6c11085e108dde1b4e89adc4e3e END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260617T180000Z DTEND:20260617T190000Z SUMMARY:Lunchtime Business Panel: Marketing Before\, During and After Publication—Practical Strategies for Writers DESCRIPTION:Panelists include: Angelique Stevens\, Sara Megibow (Megibow Literary Agency)\, Helen Masvikeni (Megibow Literary Agency)\, and Megan Posco (Posco Publicity). \n\nWriters often dread marketing\, but connecting with readers doesn’t have to mean losing yourself in the process. Join us for a panel of writers and agents where we will discuss practical\, sustainable strategies for building a solid\, authentic presence as an author and uncovering opportunities with the aim of not running yourself ragged. Participants will leave with a clear timeline of promotional tasks organized from pre-publication to launch week. Topics will include but are not limited to identifying comp titles\, finding your readers\, positioning yourself and your book and social media strategies. CATEGORIES:ALL GENRES LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:8a8b1d9355787cef6f0921b5bc38df91 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/8a8b1d9355787cef6f0921b5bc38df91 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260617T180000Z DTEND:20260617T190000Z SUMMARY:Lunchtime Business Panel: Marketing Before\, During and After Publication—Practical Strategies for Writers (Livestream) DESCRIPTION:Panelists include: Angelique Stevens\, Sara Megibow (Megibow Literary Agency)\, Helen Masvikeni (Megibow Literary Agency)\, and Megan Posco (Posco Publicity). \n\nWriters often dread marketing\, but connecting with readers doesn’t have to mean losing yourself in the process. Join us for a panel of writers and agents where we will discuss practical\, sustainable strategies for building a solid\, authentic presence as an author and uncovering opportunities with the aim of not running yourself ragged. Participants will leave with a clear timeline of promotional tasks organized from pre-publication to launch week. Topics will include but are not limited to identifying comp titles\, finding your readers\, positioning yourself and your book and social media strategies. CATEGORIES:ALL GENRES LOCATION:Virtual SEQUENCE:0 UID:957dce9df519a943ad955e5ec3ef7b63 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/957dce9df519a943ad955e5ec3ef7b63 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260617T193000Z DTEND:20260617T213000Z SUMMARY:Advanced Structure Lab: Break the Story Free with Dean Bakopoulos DESCRIPTION:In this seminar designed for screenwriters and prose writers of all levels\, we’ll use dramatic structure to help us get unstuck. Bring along a draft that’s failing or an idea that’s not finding a form\, and we’ll explore the intricacies and opportunities of narrative structure. Over the course of this week\, we’ll utilize a four-part system Bakopoulos developed while writing television pilot scripts (but that YOU can apply to any form of narrative writing—short stories\, memoirs\, novels\, screenplays\, TV scripts\, plays etc.) to move past any literary obstructions you’re battling.\n \n \n While no system is a magic potion that can take away the agonies of creation\, this character-based approach to structure allows you to rethink the possibilities of your project. We'll discuss characters and their journeys towards liberation\, as well as the notion of dramatic escalation\, the tension between exposition and plot\, the construction of compelling scenes\, and the importance of unexpected dialogue and minor characters. We’ll watch scenes from great television pilot episodes and feature films as examples to illustrate these principles\;we’ll also read a few passages of prose.\n \n \n We’ll take part in at least one generative exercise per session\; by the fifth day of the course\, you will have a shiny new four-part outline that will help you successfully revise\, or finally draft\, a stuck project.\n \n \n *Dean's weeklong seminar is two hours each day and does not include one-on-one meetings. The tuition is also adjusted (down) from the typical weeklong workshop. CATEGORIES:DRAMATIC WRITING LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:7265650e376680687616c2b4a6d1cd6e URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/7265650e376680687616c2b4a6d1cd6e END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260617T193000Z DTEND:20260617T213000Z SUMMARY:That's Cinema: Applying Screenwriting Techniques to Novel Writing DESCRIPTION:In this beginner-intermediate course\, we will look to film and television to help us outline and visualize our novels. My debut\, Wanting\, was published this summer by Tin House\, and I wrote it utilizing techniques I use every day as a screenwriter. I come from the world of half-hour comedy\, which means tight three-act structure\, snappy act blows\, and characters that change from start to finish. How can this be useful when structuring a novel? How can visualizing a scene cinematically help to bring our story to life? We will look at screenwriting forms\, such as Dan Harmon’s Story Circles\, while also discussing ways to subvert those forms. CATEGORIES:DRAMATIC WRITING LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:6b714343a0dfb4bdffea05f5da2475bf URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/6b714343a0dfb4bdffea05f5da2475bf END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260617T193000Z DTEND:20260617T213000Z SUMMARY:Critiquing the End DESCRIPTION:Most workshops focus on the first part of a novel\, but the ending is as important. In this critique session\, we will specifically critique the last chapter of your work without requiring people to read an entire manuscript. \n \n To participate\, each student will submit a synopsis\, the first page\, the middle page (yes\, the page in the exact middle of the manuscript)\, and the last chapter. Before the workshop\, students will be required to read two other participants materials. You'll be taught how to evaluate an ending and guide the reader to opportunities to deepen the ending. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:1c7ab6b1bcf039128f4f064a1847e859 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/1c7ab6b1bcf039128f4f064a1847e859 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260617T193000Z DTEND:20260617T213000Z SUMMARY:How to Make Plot Your Friend DESCRIPTION:Plot can feel like the enemy. You’ve got a compelling voice\, a rich premise\, real momentum—and then the story stalls. If this sounds familiar\, you’re not alone. In this seminar\, you’ll learn how to make your plot your friend—instead of feeling trapped by it. Through close readings of classic and contemporary works\, we’ll break down the mechanics of rising action\, pacing\, consequence\, suspense\, and character decision-making. Whether you write fiction or nonfiction\, this class will help you supercharge your plot. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:8dfd92f68986ec1796afcbccb95e934e URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/8dfd92f68986ec1796afcbccb95e934e END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260617T193000Z DTEND:20260617T213000Z SUMMARY:Memoir for the Anxious\, Uncertain\, or Scared Writer DESCRIPTION:This craft seminar aims to demystify the process of writing a memoir. We'll talk about structure\, perspective\, ethical concerns\, and more\, including how to begin and how to continue. Let's deal with the anxiety together\, and we’ll leave with the confidence and tools we need to write personal essays and memoirs! CATEGORIES:NONFICTION/MEMOIR LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:cf0b422a08e1956711d5e791bd65af5e URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/cf0b422a08e1956711d5e791bd65af5e END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260617T193000Z DTEND:20260617T213000Z SUMMARY:Memoir Structure: Scene by Scene DESCRIPTION:Contemporary memoirs are organized in many ways\, from experimental to traditional three-act. But when it comes to structure on a page-by-page and sentence-by-sentence basis\, there are some tenets most published memoirs follow. Come learn to discern the difference between sharing memories and creating a story\, how to structure your memoir using scenes and transitions\, how to work with causality\, how and when to skip big chunks of time in a memoir\, and more. We’ll look at examples from memoirs by Carmen Maria Machado\, Anthony Bourdain\, Daisy Hernández and more. CATEGORIES:NONFICTION/MEMOIR LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:22da2c111f7b5bc2fa16869e5308f080 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/22da2c111f7b5bc2fa16869e5308f080 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260617T193000Z DTEND:20260617T213000Z SUMMARY:On/Off the Record: Hybrid Writing with Documents (V) DESCRIPTION:Hybrid writing often emerges from and recontextualizes documentary material\, such as personal archives\, news reports\, legal documents\, and scientific papers. In this seminar\, we’ll explore how such sources can be transformed—and become transformative—in cross-genre writing. Through short readings and discussion\, we’ll consider when and how writers can use documents to question the authority\, perspectives\, and legacies of received narratives. Reflective exercises will help participants identify potential topics for research\, outline source materials\, and imagine hybrid projects that blur the boundaries between fact\, history\, memory\, and speculation. CATEGORIES:NONFICTION/MEMOIR LOCATION:Virtual SEQUENCE:0 UID:97b75d58d8e50afb9255291deeab5f00 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/97b75d58d8e50afb9255291deeab5f00 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260617T193000Z DTEND:20260617T213000Z SUMMARY:Real People\, Real Problems DESCRIPTION:If you write about real people\, sometimes they get mad at you. Your memoir\, novel\, short story\, essay\, or poem may cause problems ranging from family tiffs to actual lawsuits. All of us wonder if it’s okay to write certain stories\, and further\, what to consider when publishing them. What’s off limits\, and who gets to decide? What types of things should you worry about? If you write fiction\, are you immune? (Short answer: no.) How can you tweak your text to safeguard your work? You’ll leave this class with practical\, concrete tools to protect your writing without compromising your vision. CATEGORIES:NONFICTION/MEMOIR LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:340947bc2f381b8bd46122304dd7b928 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/340947bc2f381b8bd46122304dd7b928 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260617T193000Z DTEND:20260617T213000Z SUMMARY:Making Conversation: Inviting New Voices into The Poem DESCRIPTION:“The Sun woke me this morning loud\n and clear\, saying "Hey! I've been\n trying to wake you up for fifteen\n minutes.” \n \n In Frank O’Hara’s “A True Account of Talking to the Sun at Fire Island\,” the dialogue creates character\, humor\, tension\, and meaning. How might we invite other voices into our poems as a way to open new opportunities? In this generative workshop we will read and discuss poems that make use of quotations and dialogue as counterpoints to the voice of the speaker\, exploring what extra voices make possible\, and using these techniques as springboards for our own work. CATEGORIES:POETRY LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:306257105183f3a36caecdf04f7538a4 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/306257105183f3a36caecdf04f7538a4 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260617T193000Z DTEND:20260617T213000Z SUMMARY:The Supple Sonnet DESCRIPTION:Whether your reference point is Shakespeare or Diane Seuss\, Gwendolyn Brooks or Claude\n McKay\, Natasha Trethewey or Tyehimba Jess or Gerard Manley Hopkins\, you have heard of this poetic form. There’s a reason the sonnet has persisted and permutated over hundreds of years— it’s versatile and malleable enough to handle whatever you want to throw at it. In this craft seminar\, we’ll look at sonnets old and new\, rhymed and unrhymed\, experimental\, contrapuntal\, broken\, ghostly\, and more\, and we’ll try our hands at making one ourselves. CATEGORIES:POETRY LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:dcb38d47739c5295294d462b02489225 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/dcb38d47739c5295294d462b02489225 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260617T193000Z DTEND:20260617T213000Z SUMMARY:Designing Your Author Website with Style and Know-How (V) DESCRIPTION:Need an author website but don’t know where to start? This planning workshop covers everything you need to know to imagine and create an engaging\, user-friendly author website. Learn how to design a polished\, professional site that reflects your unique voice and supports your books\, projects\, research\, and long-term creative presence online. You’ll also leave with key handouts to continue thinking through all the possibilities around your website as well as a 100-point checklist to make sure you’re covering all your logistical needs. Perfect for authors at any stage of their journey who want a polished and professional digital home. CATEGORIES:PUBLISHING/CAREER LOCATION:Virtual SEQUENCE:0 UID:6381ef048a9ac2850b0f12898914520d URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/6381ef048a9ac2850b0f12898914520d END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260617T220000Z DTEND:20260618T000000Z SUMMARY:Ticking Clocks: Managing Time in Fiction DESCRIPTION:In this craft seminar\, we will consider how writers use time\, with particular attention to the ways writers deliberately call attention to time: interruptions\, flashbacks\, glimpses of the future\, passages quickly carrying the reader through a stretch of many years. In the first hour of the class\, we will hold a seminar style discussion of examples from published work. In the second hour\, we will complete generative exercises modeled after some of the work discussed. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:50f162e091708c2a9b6f0ebc13191918 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/50f162e091708c2a9b6f0ebc13191918 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260617T220000Z DTEND:20260618T010000Z SUMMARY:Two-Day Intensive: Bridges to Elsewhere—Writing Significance in the Everyday\, Working-Class Moment DESCRIPTION:Analyzing moments from the films of Andrea Arnold\, comics by Katrina Vogl\, poems by Marie Howe and prose by Denis Johnson\, Jo-Ann Beard and Lucia Berlin\, as well as others\, we will examine what might make the seemingly quotidian significant through a series of targeted craft exercises. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:670134b01a6a4cc8982793840f9cb9e7 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/670134b01a6a4cc8982793840f9cb9e7 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260617T220000Z DTEND:20260618T000000Z SUMMARY:Writing Thrillers DESCRIPTION:Learn to craft thrillers that grip readers from the first page\, and develop the mindset to keep writing when you don’t feel like it. In this two-hour class\, we’ll survey the psychology behind suspense: how to build pressure\, raise stakes\, and deliver unforgettable endings. You’ll explore emotional tension\, consistent writing habits\, and editing strategies that sharpen every scene. Whether you’re a debut writer or a seasoned pro\, you’ll leave with practical tools to make your stories darker\, tighter\, and more intense. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:7d271cb253e6bea6a94f6ac9260abe3d URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/7d271cb253e6bea6a94f6ac9260abe3d END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260617T220000Z DTEND:20260618T000000Z SUMMARY:Perhapsing: What To Do When We Don’t Know DESCRIPTION:In the craft book Tell It Slant\, Brenda Miller and Suzanne Paola ponder the question memoirists face again and again: Does nonfiction mean “no fiction”? What do we do when we don’t remember or know all the details? How do we handle the fact we are all inherently unreliable narrators? “Perhapsing” is a term coined by Lisa Knopp to describe one technique a memoirist can employ to signal to the reader that they are now speculating. We will experiment with this strategy (and others) while focusing on how to simultaneously establish and maintain intimacy and trust with the audience. CATEGORIES:NONFICTION/MEMOIR LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:31096774e52409964fdd4b380c17c3b5 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/31096774e52409964fdd4b380c17c3b5 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260617T220000Z DTEND:20260618T000000Z SUMMARY:Just 2 Poems (V) DESCRIPTION:In this class\, we’ll experience the power of deep reading. Before class\, you’ll be given two poems that serve as jumping off points to explore and be inspired by master poets of exceptional craft. Previous years have featured long poems by BH Fairchild\, Larry Levis and Brigit Pegeen Kelly. We’ll explore both the measured unfolding of a longer poem and the lyric compression of another. Exercises\, experiments\, and your own poems will follow. CATEGORIES:POETRY LOCATION:Virtual SEQUENCE:0 UID:7add12706eac9867888d90cc38be292e URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/7add12706eac9867888d90cc38be292e END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260617T220000Z DTEND:20260618T000000Z SUMMARY:Scaffolds and Skeletons: Crafting Strong Foundations in Poetry and Fiction DESCRIPTION:Structure should never be an afterthought for poets and writers—in poetry it often is the whole point\, and in story it is the spine that lets a story stand upright—in this generative seminar we will work to create the frame and foundation for your own great poems and stories (and essays). We will begin with some core architectural strategies and choices that help shape compelling work across genres: tension arcs\, complications and crisis turns\, scene and image sequencing\, and the purposeful use of propulsive detail. Seth is an award-winning poet and fiction writer and has taught both genres for decades. This seminar will help participants build pieces that move with intention and hold their weight. Through (very) short readings\, craft discussions\, and hands‑on exercises\, writers will experiment with scaffolds that invite discovery and revision strategies that bring clarity to the page. Suitable for all levels. CATEGORIES:POETRY LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:a08188a25f1e60550dfb2dec4d30bccf URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/a08188a25f1e60550dfb2dec4d30bccf END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260617T220000Z DTEND:20260618T010000Z SUMMARY:Two-Day Intensive: Being a Romantic Poet in the 21st Century DESCRIPTION:How might Romanticism translate to our time? In this workshop\, we'll carry its core precepts—spontaneity\, accessible language\, the connection between nature and human creativity\, the power of individual imagination—into contemporary poetry. Drawing on Keats\, Wordsworth\, and Blake\, we'll make our own departures into visionary lyricism. CATEGORIES:POETRY LOCATION:Virtual SEQUENCE:0 UID:2d3f5dd55c7259db60ac3348ea969b2d URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/2d3f5dd55c7259db60ac3348ea969b2d END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260617T220000Z DTEND:20260618T000000Z SUMMARY:Perseverance Training: Surviving the Long Haul of Writing DESCRIPTION:The novel that takes twenty years\, the memoir that won’t cohere\, the one hundredth agent who says no thanks\, or worse\, just ignores you — disappointment\, doubt and fear are part of the process. Of course\, so is gloriousness. In this two-hour workshop\, we’ll air it all out: the anxieties\, the self-sabotage\, the night terrors. Together we’ll examine how other writers have pushed through fear and flagging confidence\, and we’ll discuss practical strategies for surviving. Bring your doubts and worries\; you’ll leave with a sturdier sense of what it takes to keep going until the work is done. CATEGORIES:PUBLISHING/CAREER LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:c142da542d635246b9a609f542bef50d URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/c142da542d635246b9a609f542bef50d END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260617T220000Z DTEND:20260618T000000Z SUMMARY:Build Your Portfolio: On Longevity and Writing DESCRIPTION:Some writers have been at this for decades — through life\, through rejection\, through the moments when the work almost didn't survive. Come hear from a panel of poets\, novelists\, short story writers\, and memoirists about how they built a practice that lasted. What does persistence actually look like? How do you keep going when life gets loud or the business gets discouraging? Grab a drink\, bring your questions\, and pull up a chair. CATEGORIES:WRITING PROCESS LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:8b96787fed5bd844a54cae17a79f19e9 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/8b96787fed5bd844a54cae17a79f19e9 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260617T220000Z DTEND:20260618T000000Z SUMMARY:Build Your Portfolio: On Longevity and Writing (Livestream) DESCRIPTION:Some writers have been at this for decades — through life\, through rejection\, through the moments when the work almost didn't survive. Come hear from a panel of poets\, novelists\, short story writers\, and memoirists about how they built a practice that lasted. What does persistence actually look like? How do you keep going when life gets loud or the business gets discouraging? Grab a drink\, bring your questions\, and pull up a chair.\n\nThis is the livestream version of this event. CATEGORIES:WRITING PROCESS LOCATION:Virtual SEQUENCE:0 UID:f9f7ef1f15322b20f922fd2b90939c2c URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/f9f7ef1f15322b20f922fd2b90939c2c END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260618T000000Z DTEND:20260618T013000Z SUMMARY:Portfolio Year Celebration DESCRIPTION:Come and celebrate the hard work of the Portfolio Year graduates\, hear some of their final work\, and learn more about the year-long program. Location pending! CATEGORIES:ALL GENRES LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:d11a51020da34538b3963ddd35c074a6 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/d11a51020da34538b3963ddd35c074a6 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260618T010000Z DTEND:20260619T030000Z SUMMARY:Writing in Color Trivia with Black People Know Things presented by Kundiman - Mountain West DESCRIPTION:Love trivia? Looking for new writer friends? Join Lighthouse's Writing in Color program and Kundiman - Mountain West during this year’s Lit Fest for a night of BIPOC+-centered literary trivia hosted by Black People Know Things! Open to writers of all backgrounds and identities\, this event is a great opportunity for all writers to learn more about BIPOC+ culture\, stories\, and authors.\n\nSo don’t be shy! Bring your trivia skills and excitement to learn! Participants are welcome to bring their own team or form one the night of with newfound Lit Fest friends. We’ll have three rounds of trivia and the winning team(s) will receive prizes\, including Lighthouse swag and books written by some of Lighthouse’s faculty of color.\n\nThis event is open to all with the aim of highlighting BIPOC+* culture\, stories\, and authors while also providing writers of color an opportunity to connect.\n\nWriting in Color programming celebrates writers and creatives of all genres and levels\, focusing on the traditions\, history\, triumphs\, and challenges of those who identify as Black\, Indigenous\, or People of Color (BIPOC+). The goal of these programs is to support BIPOC+ individuals as they focus on their writing practice by creating a supportive and encouraging community. We ask that all participants be mindful of this intention\; anyone who is disruptive may be asked to leave.\n\n*BIPOC+ includes but is not limited to African\, Indigenous\, Native\, Latinx\, Asian\, Pacific Islander\, Arab\, and Multiracial heritage.\n\n​We will have a Sober 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. \;\n\nFor more resources and recovery meetings close to Lighthouse\, you can visit: https://www.yorkstreetclub.com/Schedule CATEGORIES:ALL GENRES LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:024a78c420d9ec543291b62ed22c788e URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/024a78c420d9ec543291b62ed22c788e END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260618T150000Z DTEND:20260618T173000Z SUMMARY:Advanced Weeklong Fiction Workshop: Finding the Subterranean Story with Danielle Evans DESCRIPTION:Often\, the process of drafting fiction is one of uncovering: What is it we actually mean to be writing about\, and how can we bring that thread to the surface in revision? At the same time\, one of the great pleasures of reading is the consideration of suggestions or questions that remain just beneath the surface of the text. In this workshop\, we'll consider the “layers” of a story\, and we’ll explore how some of those subterranean layers can guide us toward structures and narrative arcs that serve the project. We'll negotiate the balance between what works best when said directly and what works best when it’s left to be discovered by the reader. Each workshop will open with discussion of a published short story and a brief responsive writing exercise\; then we’ll move to an in-depth discussion of work submitted by participants. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:6e19db9fb9e8499aedbb2001f5a0f100 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/6e19db9fb9e8499aedbb2001f5a0f100 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260618T150000Z DTEND:20260618T173000Z SUMMARY:Advanced Weeklong Fiction Workshop: Intimate Distance with Mat Johnson DESCRIPTION:Novels are long\, often unruly\, and inherently ambitious projects that require the writer to be both intimate with and distant from the text. It's easy to type a bunch of pages\, but it’s hard to make them captivate the reader and ensure that the journey adds up to more than the sum of its parts. This course will explore the tools needed to bring your novel-length manuscript to life in its strongest form. Your novel has strengths: we'll explore how you can build on them. Your novel has weaknesses: we'll identify them and create strategies for you to overcome them. Together\, we'll reveal what your novel is actually about\, as opposed to what you planned for it to be. We’ll examine its hidden structures\, and we’ll enable your characters and their struggles to come alive on the page. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:fba72c51b46d9862c4930e82d3b5f0ec URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/fba72c51b46d9862c4930e82d3b5f0ec END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260618T150000Z DTEND:20260618T173000Z SUMMARY:Advanced Weeklong Fiction Workshop: Situation and Event with Brandon Taylor DESCRIPTION:In this weeklong workshop\, we’ll explore the intimate relationship between situation and event in narrative using work submitted by participants. The goal is to gain a stronger understanding of and appreciation for the underlying or pre-existing dramatic context that gives meaning to plot\, character actions\, and even the structure of a piece. We’ll use this stronger understanding to develop a more thorough conceptualization of our work so that we can make exciting\, unexpected\, and more meaningful choices in our stories. We’ll be working with the below definitions: Situation: All of the facts that comprise the starting condition of a character’s life at the beginning of a given story\, novel\, scene\, or act. We may understand situation as another word for circumstance raised to the level of dramatic action and intent. Event: The event is the happening or the trigger shot of a given scene\, story\, or novel. There are capital E Events and little e events. But regardless\, both kinds of events should be drawn out of the very bedrock of your narrative and dramatic situation. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:d0bd026ac3846e6588455ee891fa58f7 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/d0bd026ac3846e6588455ee891fa58f7 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260618T150000Z DTEND:20260618T173000Z SUMMARY:Advanced Weeklong Fiction Workshop: The BS Detector with Steve Almond DESCRIPTION:Writing is decision making\, nothing more and nothing less. What word? Where to place the comma? How to shape the paragraph? Join Steve Almond for a workshop focused on improving the decisions you make in your writing. By looking critically and carefully at other people’s work\, you’ll walk away with a better sense of how to improve your own. The idea is not to slow your rate of composition via compulsive revision\, but to instead make better decisions in the first place and to recognize quickly when you haven’t. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:76f3d0cb2b9ed2f7a49dd53453e4356e URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/76f3d0cb2b9ed2f7a49dd53453e4356e END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260618T150000Z DTEND:20260618T173000Z SUMMARY:Advanced Weeklong Fiction Workshop: Who's Telling Your Story? with Christopher Castellani DESCRIPTION:The most important decision a writer makes is who tells their story. In this workshop\, we will examine each other's manuscripts primarily through the lens of point of view and by using the concept of narrative strategy\, but we will also take each manuscript as a whole and discuss how all the craft elements are working together. The primary question we will ask is\, "How can the manuscript be a stronger\, deeper version of itself?" This workshop is open to short story writers and novelists with stand-alone excerpts. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:5a973b8c01715758331de7f2b3cd45fa URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/5a973b8c01715758331de7f2b3cd45fa END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260618T150000Z DTEND:20260618T173000Z SUMMARY:Advanced Weeklong Generative Fiction Workshop: Starting\, or Starting Over with Rebecca Makkai DESCRIPTION:In this generative workshop\, we’ll either begin brand new pieces\, or begin a brand new version of an old piece. In either case\, we’ll use our clean slates to find startling originality\, optimal angles of approach\, and the energies that will carry a story or novel through to the end. We’ll write both in class and outside of class and (voluntarily) share what we’ve written. In the last two days of class\, we’ll squeeze in mini-workshops on everyone’s opening page. Accepted participants do not need to come in with an idea of what to write\, although they may. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:a3e96eebfac8d4a81f3e901bbc99485b URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/a3e96eebfac8d4a81f3e901bbc99485b END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260618T150000Z DTEND:20260618T173000Z SUMMARY:Advanced Weeklong Nonfiction Workshop: Excavation with Andre Dubus III DESCRIPTION:We’ll begin with a difficult task: do not outline your novel or novella or short story or essay or memoir. Do not think out the plot\, the narrative arc\, the protagonist’s journey\, whatever you want to call it. Instead\, try to find the story through an honest excavation of the characters’ total experience of the situation in which they find themselves. Do that\, and the story will begin to write itself. But how\, precisely\, does one go about this “excavation”? And how\, technically speaking\, can we ignite a story into “writing itself”? Come to this workshop\, and we’ll demystify those writerly tools and skills that\, time and time again\, if they are sharp enough\, and if the writer can summon enough daily faith and nerve\, can penetrate the mystery of story itself. Fiction\, as well as creative nonfiction is welcome. We will be doing in-class writing exercises and workshopping each participant’s submission. CATEGORIES:NONFICTION/MEMOIR LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:9a80cd320d3f21fbf125b2dcb6b14d24 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/9a80cd320d3f21fbf125b2dcb6b14d24 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260618T150000Z DTEND:20260618T173000Z SUMMARY:Advanced Weeklong Nonfiction Workshop: Find Your Focus with Beth Nguyen DESCRIPTION:Maybe you’ve been wanting to try writing creative nonfiction. Maybe you have been writing it but are feeling a little bit stuck. Maybe you’re restless\, curious. Maybe you’re wondering how to create a cohesive work out of a lifetime of material. Where to start? How to shape it? This generative workshop is geared toward inspiration\, starts and restarts\, and rethinking nonfiction\, at any level. Whether you’re interested in memoir\, essays\, memoir-in-essays\, or anything in between\, you’ll find guidance\, support\, writing prompts\, and discussion aimed at helping you figure out your writing process. We’ll talk about ideas\, structure\, perspective\, ethical concerns (how do we know what we should write? how do we write about other people?)\, and more. This workshop is all about gaining greater focus and understanding as we generate work and ideas in a fun and supportive environment. CATEGORIES:NONFICTION/MEMOIR LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:37faf009a546c000c2e6cb6985dae0ed URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/37faf009a546c000c2e6cb6985dae0ed END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260618T150000Z DTEND:20260618T173000Z SUMMARY:Advanced Weeklong Nonfiction Workshop: Mapping the Memoir with Emily Rapp Black DESCRIPTION:Art is architecture\; art is artificial\; art is...? The biggest challenge for any writer of narrative is finding the map from beginning to end. This workshop is designed for writers working on book-length memoirs who wish to delve more deeply into the issues of structure\, style\, and voice: these three craft points will be our focus\, as they make up the net that holds a narrative together in a propulsive\, engaging\, immersive\, and beautiful way. The goal of this workshop is to take your completed manuscript to the next level. We'll also discuss different avenues of publication. CATEGORIES:NONFICTION/MEMOIR LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:8816f1869c97a7f1f91b81a6372b59fe URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/8816f1869c97a7f1f91b81a6372b59fe END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260618T150000Z DTEND:20260618T173000Z SUMMARY:Advanced Weeklong Nonfiction Workshop: Shadow Narratives with Rachel Louise Snyder DESCRIPTION:Behind every piece of narrative nonfiction there exists a dual narrative. This partnership of story with meaning is often the blend that provides memoir\, personal essay\, and narrative nonfiction pieces with both tension and emotional consequence. There is the story as it exists on the page\, and then there is the shadow narrative\, whispering behind that story\, trying to make sense of it. In this weeklong workshop\, students will be asked to explore these dual narratives in their own work and in published works from contemporary practitioners such as Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah\, Eula Biss\, Richard McCann\, and others. Particular attention will be paid to voice and point of view. CATEGORIES:NONFICTION/MEMOIR LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:58c93832fdb664644e9eaae829f5e259 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/58c93832fdb664644e9eaae829f5e259 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260618T150000Z DTEND:20260618T173000Z SUMMARY:Advanced Weeklong Poetry Workshop: Draft Exclusion with Paul Muldoon DESCRIPTION:The popular image of the poet is as a dasher off of poem drafts. So manic and mercurial are poets’ imaginations that not even champion typists can keep abreast of them. If there’s a problem\, it’s something to which they can return in a quiet moment way down the road. The focus of this week will be to set ourselves against this popular image\, to make every moment a quiet moment\, to fix problems as they arise\, to revise even as the poem’s vision for itself is slowly coming into being and\, in the end\, to cut down on a lot of unnecessary work. The key to this approach is to write the poem one line at a time\, to allow one idea to lead to another\, and to avoid getting ahead of ourselves. When we implement this approach\, the poem is now\, paradoxically\, more likely to bring us to a place of genuine immediacy and vitality which had hitherto been illusory. CATEGORIES:POETRY LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:34ac36b408451bdd3bce31b2f04b7f4f URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/34ac36b408451bdd3bce31b2f04b7f4f END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260618T150000Z DTEND:20260618T173000Z SUMMARY:No Genre/All Genre Generative Lab with Eileen Myles DESCRIPTION:In this weeklong seminar\, poets\, fiction writers\, and memoirists (and even non-writers) will re-consider and even de-rail their works in progress (or write new ones) informed by some new approaches\, formal constraints\, good talk\, and engagement with other art forms. We’ll write at least four pieces this week\, taking cues from the history of poetry and prose\, music\, photos\, and film\, and we will effectively banish the lines that separate these forms of expression in order to instill our own work with the real breadth of this postmodern world. Bring a song\, a problem (aesthetic or personal)\, or at least one significant photo\, stuffed animal\, flyer\, something—a piece of real or artificial fruit. The goal is to create a live working environment\, a studio effect\, in order to generate more work and to get reinstalled or re-awakened in our writing process.\n \n *Since this is a generative class and can accommodate a few more people\, Eileen cannot meet one-on-one with each participant\, but they tend to be around Lit Fest and there are ample opportunities for additional talks. CATEGORIES:POETRY LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:9c5c4d7e471c49270771e52ea169b7db URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/9c5c4d7e471c49270771e52ea169b7db END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260618T180000Z DTEND:20260618T190000Z SUMMARY:Lunchtime Business Panel: A Perfect Pairing—The Author-Agent Relationship DESCRIPTION:Panelists include: Megan O'Grady and Sarah Burnes (The Gernert Company).\n\nAs the publishing industry continues to change\, the relationship between an author and their agent can make or break a career. Join Megan O’Grady and her agent Sarah Burnes as they talk about the ways they’re navigating the choppy waters of publishing together. CATEGORIES:ALL GENRES LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:7b444f525ce839a491c5b6ff2b97c671 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/7b444f525ce839a491c5b6ff2b97c671 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260618T180000Z DTEND:20260618T190000Z SUMMARY:Lunchtime Business Panel: A Perfect Pairing—The Author-Agent Relationship (Livestream) DESCRIPTION:Panelists include: Megan O'Grady and Sarah Burnes (The Gernert Company).\n\nAs the publishing industry continues to change\, the relationship between an author and their agent can make or break a career. Join Megan O’Grady and her agent Sarah Burnes as they talk about the ways they’re navigating the choppy waters of publishing together. CATEGORIES:ALL GENRES LOCATION:Virtual SEQUENCE:0 UID:df6566a75a3460607ca7f3353f40bab4 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/df6566a75a3460607ca7f3353f40bab4 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260618T193000Z DTEND:20260618T213000Z SUMMARY:Advanced Structure Lab: Break the Story Free with Dean Bakopoulos DESCRIPTION:In this seminar designed for screenwriters and prose writers of all levels\, we’ll use dramatic structure to help us get unstuck. Bring along a draft that’s failing or an idea that’s not finding a form\, and we’ll explore the intricacies and opportunities of narrative structure. Over the course of this week\, we’ll utilize a four-part system Bakopoulos developed while writing television pilot scripts (but that YOU can apply to any form of narrative writing—short stories\, memoirs\, novels\, screenplays\, TV scripts\, plays etc.) to move past any literary obstructions you’re battling.\n \n \n While no system is a magic potion that can take away the agonies of creation\, this character-based approach to structure allows you to rethink the possibilities of your project. We'll discuss characters and their journeys towards liberation\, as well as the notion of dramatic escalation\, the tension between exposition and plot\, the construction of compelling scenes\, and the importance of unexpected dialogue and minor characters. We’ll watch scenes from great television pilot episodes and feature films as examples to illustrate these principles\;we’ll also read a few passages of prose.\n \n \n We’ll take part in at least one generative exercise per session\; by the fifth day of the course\, you will have a shiny new four-part outline that will help you successfully revise\, or finally draft\, a stuck project.\n \n \n *Dean's weeklong seminar is two hours each day and does not include one-on-one meetings. The tuition is also adjusted (down) from the typical weeklong workshop. CATEGORIES:DRAMATIC WRITING LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:d6a0e3e50e2f068fe5aa044a4c9edfc4 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/d6a0e3e50e2f068fe5aa044a4c9edfc4 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260618T193000Z DTEND:20260618T213000Z SUMMARY:Crash Course in Character DESCRIPTION:Characters are the most basic part of writing fiction\, but just how do you create fictional people that will win readers over with their authenticity and verve? We'll study how masters such as Kent Haruf\, Lucia Berlin\, Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah\, and Ann Patchett introduce major and minor characters\, talk about "spark plug characters" and how to create them\, learn how to collect character details in a writer's notebook\, and discuss the importance of giving your characters skills. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:d3f51f70c100da849b5ccede078baeb4 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/d3f51f70c100da849b5ccede078baeb4 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260618T193000Z DTEND:20260618T213000Z SUMMARY:Fantastic Thresholds: Short Fiction Techniques of Kelly Link and Susanna Clarke (V) DESCRIPTION:Kelly Link and Susanna Clarke write stories in which the extraordinary emerges from the ordinary in an elegant\, intimate\, and unsettling manner. We’ll explore key techniques that shape their short fiction\, such as finely calibrated voice\, well-placed rupture\, and invitation into mystery. Discussion of excerpts will lead into generative exercises\, encouraging writers to experiment with modulating voice and narrative distance\, layering the uncanny into the everyday\, and crafting tension through implication. Participants will have opportunities to share their inspired yet distinct approaches to estrangement and enchantment. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:Virtual SEQUENCE:0 UID:4175bb115fe4bf079c95cc7268e132ad URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/4175bb115fe4bf079c95cc7268e132ad END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260618T193000Z DTEND:20260618T213000Z SUMMARY:Make a Scene!: How to Bring Your Memoir to Life (V) DESCRIPTION:If your memoir is reading like the hair in the "Before" photo in a shampoo commercial — flat\, lifeless and dull — adding a scene might be what's missing! In this seminar we'll chat about what it looks like to "show not tell" by bringing your reader into the real-time of your narrative. The writing prompts for this seminar can be applied to your work-in-progress or generate writing for a new piece. CATEGORIES:NONFICTION/MEMOIR LOCATION:Virtual SEQUENCE:0 UID:f9f9b069031e38d61c716775622e8318 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/f9f9b069031e38d61c716775622e8318 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260618T193000Z DTEND:20260618T213000Z SUMMARY:Making the Personal Matter DESCRIPTION:In this seminar\, we’ll explore strategies for integrating research into our own first-person writing with the goal of answering some burning questions about creative nonfiction: How do essayists use “real” experiences to make stories that move? How do they create context that matters\, turn personal anecdotes into universally applicable meanings\, and write fresh perspectives into experiences and topics that are age-old: culture\, travel\, death\, or love? What is the best way to build context and to shape essays so that they have momentum and meaning? In other words\, how do we make meaning?\n\nThis is the livestream version of this event. CATEGORIES:NONFICTION/MEMOIR LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:35aa7203d184e7a5c6adf59b91052204 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/35aa7203d184e7a5c6adf59b91052204 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260618T193000Z DTEND:20260618T213000Z SUMMARY:Making the Personal Matter (Livestream) DESCRIPTION:In this seminar\, we’ll explore strategies for integrating research into our own first-person writing with the goal of answering some burning questions about creative nonfiction: How do essayists use “real” experiences to make stories that move? How do they create context that matters\, turn personal anecdotes into universally applicable meanings\, and write fresh perspectives into experiences and topics that are age-old: culture\, travel\, death\, or love? What is the best way to build context and to shape essays so that they have momentum and meaning? In other words\, how do we make meaning?\n\nThis is the livestream version of this event. CATEGORIES:NONFICTION/MEMOIR LOCATION:Virtual SEQUENCE:0 UID:f11b7ceb3a6625bbf4c6e560725d488e URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/f11b7ceb3a6625bbf4c6e560725d488e END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260618T193000Z DTEND:20260618T213000Z SUMMARY:From Idea to Outline DESCRIPTION:Often we have a nugget that we want to play with\, but can't find the larger story. This generative workshop walks writers through a toolbox to go from idea to outline. This will work for people who are pantsers as well as plotters\, because they can apply the tools at any point in the process. The takeaway from this class isn't "this is how it's done" but rather "here are tools for when you are struggling." CATEGORIES:WRITING PROCESS LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:a88d917619dbca018f7a6ee981b2b70c URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/a88d917619dbca018f7a6ee981b2b70c END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260618T193000Z DTEND:20260618T213000Z SUMMARY:Seance of the Bees: Writing and Ritual Practices DESCRIPTION:What parts of your body do you write with? Your brain\, your heart\, your lungs\, your womb? This interactive\, movement-based seminar will guide participants through a series of somatic and ritual practices\, stemming from the wisdom of bees and the artist/writers Ana Mendieta\, Cecilia Vicuña\, Audre Lorde\, and Gloria Anzaldúa\, among others. CATEGORIES:WRITING PROCESS LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:8cffeaf57bd70ec8cb38564f76141da8 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/8cffeaf57bd70ec8cb38564f76141da8 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260618T193000Z DTEND:20260618T213000Z SUMMARY:Secrets: Strategies for Story DESCRIPTION:In this workshop\, we’ll explore secrets as a major component for all storytelling. Secrets both separate us from one another and bind us together. Writers will learn how to make powerful allusions in their writing to build plot and develop character. In addition to learning the art of confession\, we’ll also explore subtext as strategy and when and how to prioritize the reader’s experience. CATEGORIES:WRITING PROCESS LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:670c75ea8469c44f9861d3a999e4ac53 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/670c75ea8469c44f9861d3a999e4ac53 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260618T193000Z DTEND:20260618T213000Z SUMMARY:The Picture Within: Art as Inspiration and Critique DESCRIPTION:Throughout literary history\, writers and poets have often turned to artists for inspiration and contemplation. Visual art can be a powerful catalyst for both sensory and formal exploration\, deepening our awareness of color\, composition\, tension\, and scale. It can also elicit words within us\, to paraphrase Virginia Woolf on Cézanne\, from places we had not known language to exist. Through close-looking exercises\, short ekphrastic readings (contemporary and classic)\, and writing prompts drawn from our own encounters with art\, we’ll hone our skills as noticers and interpreters of life. CATEGORIES:WRITING PROCESS LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:8182e93f76cb4ffa6842db297f686a3b URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/8182e93f76cb4ffa6842db297f686a3b END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260618T193000Z DTEND:20260618T213000Z SUMMARY:The Rich Layers of Personal Style DESCRIPTION:“Good artists copy\; great artists steal.” This quote is famously attributed to the artist Pablo Picasso\, but it applies equally to writers. We all bring to the page our influences over the years—the books we’ve admired (or even hated)\, the imagery and music and themes we’ve been drawn to again and again\, and the styles we’ve envied. In this class\, we’ll look at your influences\, how they’ve helped shape your style and ideas\, and work to consciously incorporate your influences in your writing. No one will accuse you of stealing—we’ll just admire the rich layers of your style. CATEGORIES:WRITING PROCESS LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:1840cd0e4eff59edbf831cc2a18a8359 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/1840cd0e4eff59edbf831cc2a18a8359 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260618T220000Z DTEND:20260619T000000Z SUMMARY:Satisfy Me! DESCRIPTION:Even when you think you know where the draft of your story or poem is headed\, its "real" ending is often lurking somewhere beneath the surface. In this discussion class\, we will close-read the endings of two works of fiction and poetry on the spot (no advance reading required). The goal is to figure out not only how/if these endings "satisfy" but what "satisfaction" actually means for them and for our own projects. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:eb21bc214fb899e22af68c8bb1e5ee27 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/eb21bc214fb899e22af68c8bb1e5ee27 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260618T220000Z DTEND:20260619T000000Z SUMMARY:Suffering Builds Character DESCRIPTION:A story in which characters don’t suffer (or don’t suffer enough) is a story that’s easy to put down. In the most compelling stories\, characters struggle mightily. They grapple with impossible dilemmas. They face their greatest fears. And just when you imagine they can take no more\, things get undeniably worse. We’ll look at examples from literary fiction and commercial fiction. We’ll discuss ways to put characters in peril and keep them there for the sake of crafting a compelling story. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:ddd10987de9278a4a963cbea4f49468d URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/ddd10987de9278a4a963cbea4f49468d END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260618T220000Z DTEND:20260619T010000Z SUMMARY:Two-Day Intensive: Bridges to Elsewhere—Writing Significance in the Everyday\, Working-Class Moment DESCRIPTION:Analyzing moments from the films of Andrea Arnold\, comics by Katrina Vogl\, poems by Marie Howe and prose by Denis Johnson\, Jo-Ann Beard and Lucia Berlin\, as well as others\, we will examine what might make the seemingly quotidian significant through a series of targeted craft exercises. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:b1a1c9471ddb829fd1cf7c2061bc1279 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/b1a1c9471ddb829fd1cf7c2061bc1279 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260618T220000Z DTEND:20260619T010000Z SUMMARY:Two-Day Intensive: The 48-Hour Story or Essay DESCRIPTION:Ready\, set\, write! In this generative class\, 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. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:0dbf1a37363f7b003c2a355dc4b5f42d URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/0dbf1a37363f7b003c2a355dc4b5f42d END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260618T220000Z DTEND:20260619T000000Z SUMMARY:Writing the Best American Essay: Contemporary Techniques and Ideas DESCRIPTION:In this class\, we’ll read excerpts from essays that appeared in the Best American Essays 2025 with an eye to their technique\, structure\, story\, voice\, and emotion. We’ll study recent trends in essays as well as classic templates\, glean everything we can learn from some of the best essayists working today\, and leave with some fresh starts and ideas for our own writing. CATEGORIES:NONFICTION/MEMOIR LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:3ae3a62f1e1077c08f554f31f40d78f1 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/3ae3a62f1e1077c08f554f31f40d78f1 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260618T220000Z DTEND:20260619T000000Z SUMMARY:Exploring Prose Poetry: The Art of Condensed Writing (V) DESCRIPTION:In this course\, we’ll explore the definition and intentions of prose poetry. We’ll have close readings and discussion of contemporary masters like James Tate\, Harryette Mullen\, Victoria Chang\, Shivani Mehta and others. There will also be time for generative prompts and prose poetry. CATEGORIES:POETRY LOCATION:Virtual SEQUENCE:0 UID:dceab5a921eead653f4eb54ade35a696 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/dceab5a921eead653f4eb54ade35a696 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260618T220000Z DTEND:20260619T000000Z SUMMARY:Just Keep Going: Being a Writer for Life DESCRIPTION:What sets "real writers" apart from dilettantes? The practice of writing. As creative people\, too often we blame ourselves for a lack of motivation and consistent creative work\, when the truth is that we live in a society designed to distract us from original creation\, encouraging us to put off creative work in favor of something more "productive" (e.g.\, money-making). This seminar proposes the radical idea that part of your job as an artist is self-motivation: you need to keep yourself inspired and creating\, despite everything. Together we'll explore ideas\, strategies\, and daily practices to ensure you Just Keep Going. CATEGORIES:WRITING PROCESS LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:cca50eefb1e483094958d6fba9a4c2df URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/cca50eefb1e483094958d6fba9a4c2df END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260618T220000Z DTEND:20260619T000000Z SUMMARY:Undoing Poetry and Prose DESCRIPTION:This practice-oriented talk will take a close look at three poems and three short pieces of prose. I’ll explain why I think they are great and how they operate as memory machines and embodied practice. We’ll then pause and write a poem using some of what we’ve learned. We’ll look at a James Schuyler poem* \, N. Nourbese Philip’s Zong!\, and something by Fanny Howe. For prose\, we’ll read Kafka\, Sergio Chejfec\, and Elena Garro**. After we look at these guys\, we will do the same as we did with the poets: we’ll use their meanings to write something of our own. \n \n This is not a workshop—it’s very much a playful lit crit group experience\, and anything you write will be an opening of some sort\, which I hope will continue to roll after this session. Plus\, I really think reading is more important than writing—for writers and for everyone. So there’s only gain here for the species.\n \n *Go buy his collected poems! Or check out the new bio of him by Nathan Kernan.\n **I’d recommend reading Chejfec’s The Planets and Garro’s Week of Colors before the seminar. For additional reading\, you might read Jazmina Barrera’s Queen of Swords\, which is kind of a neo-bio of Elena Garro. CATEGORIES:WRITING PROCESS LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:86d187d6f3632a98a4ec68f953d3b267 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/86d187d6f3632a98a4ec68f953d3b267 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260618T220000Z DTEND:20260619T000000Z SUMMARY:Writing in an AI Powered World DESCRIPTION:For many writers\, artificial intelligence is changing not only the creative landscape\, but also how we talk about our writing\, connect with readers and other writers\, and build community. One of the biggest challenges brought on by AI is anxiety. Writers worry about being falsely accused of using AI to produce work\, their published works being used to train AI tools\, and ensuring their words remain relevant in a world that’s rapidly become accustomed to AI-generated content. In this seminar\, we’ll talk about these challenges and discuss approaches for building (or rebuilding) our creative confidence in the AI age. CATEGORIES:WRITING PROCESS LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:559f4403adc472af56c0e0fc04c46edb URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/559f4403adc472af56c0e0fc04c46edb END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260618T223000Z DTEND:20260619T000000Z SUMMARY:Poetry Collective Celebration DESCRIPTION:Come and celebrate the hard work of the Poetry Collective graduates\, hear some of their final work\, and learn more about the year-long program.\n\n This is the in-person version of this event\, if you'd like to attend this as a Livestream\, click here.\n\nWe will have a Sober 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. \;\n\nFor more resources and recovery meetings close to Lighthouse\, you can visit: https://www.yorkstreetclub.com/Schedule CATEGORIES:ALL GENRES LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:2d88c2a97abd61b57d5954dfef5396c4 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/2d88c2a97abd61b57d5954dfef5396c4 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260618T223000Z DTEND:20260619T000000Z SUMMARY:Poetry Collective Celebration (Livestream) DESCRIPTION:Come and celebrate the hard work of the Poetry Collective graduates\, hear some of their final work\, and learn more about the year-long program.\n This is the Livestream version of this event\, if you'd like to attend this in-person\, click here. CATEGORIES:ALL GENRES LOCATION:Virtual SEQUENCE:0 UID:51aebc8152663a2f8ac6b5c0a9b210eb URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/51aebc8152663a2f8ac6b5c0a9b210eb END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260619T010000Z DTEND:20260619T021500Z SUMMARY:Visiting Authors Reading: Dean Bakopoulos\, Christopher Castellani\, Andre Dubus III\, Paul Muldoon\, and Rachel Louise Snyder DESCRIPTION:Grab a drink or a bite from our food truck and buckle down in Beacon Hall to hear your favorite visiting author perform their recent works. Afterwards\, you can shop at the Lit Fest pop-up bookstore operated by Spell Books and get your book signed. This is the in-person version of this event.\n\nWe will have a Sober 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. \;\n\nFor more resources and recovery meetings close to Lighthouse\, you can visit: https://www.yorkstreetclub.com/Schedule CATEGORIES:ALL GENRES LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:3d201cf00b9f0652b3b2c59fffb03c1c URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/3d201cf00b9f0652b3b2c59fffb03c1c END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260619T010000Z DTEND:20260619T021500Z SUMMARY:Visiting Authors Reading: Dean Bakopoulos\, Christopher Castellani\, Andre Dubus III\, Paul Muldoon\, and Rachel Louise Snyder (Livestream) DESCRIPTION:Grab a drink or a bite from our food truck and buckle down in Beacon Hall to hear your favorite visiting author perform their recent works. Afterwards\, you can shop at the Lit Fest pop-up bookstore operated by Spell Books and get your book signed. This is the livestream version of this event. CATEGORIES:ALL GENRES LOCATION:Virtual SEQUENCE:0 UID:1579eb811f57844da54de92a73995299 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/1579eb811f57844da54de92a73995299 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260619T023000Z DTEND:20260619T033000Z SUMMARY:Lit Fest Open Mic at Fort Greene Bar DESCRIPTION:Grab a drink and join fellow Lit Fest participants at Fort Greene Bar for a late-night opportunity to read a five minute excerpt of your work! We will have ten time slots available\, and sign up will be first-come\, first-served starting at 8:20 PM onsite. You must be 21+ in order to attend this event. \nOpen Mic Guidelines: \nWe have a limited amount of time\, so in order to make sure every person signed up has a chance to read\, your excerpt needs to be 5 minutes (or less\, if you prefer). We heavily encourage you to time yourself reading before getting up there! Five minutes goes pretty fast\, but we have found that 3 or 4 pages double-spaced of prose or 3 short poems is standard. As someone famous once said\, leave the audience wanting more! We also recommend finding something in your work that's particularly visual\, funny\, or action oriented so that people can follow more easily. CATEGORIES:ALL GENRES LOCATION:Fort Greene Bar\, 321 E 45th Ave\, Denver\, CO 80216 SEQUENCE:0 UID:6eaf1704aa872775f276475c048e48cc URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/6eaf1704aa872775f276475c048e48cc END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260619T150000Z DTEND:20260619T173000Z SUMMARY:Advanced Weeklong Fiction Workshop: Finding the Subterranean Story with Danielle Evans DESCRIPTION:Often\, the process of drafting fiction is one of uncovering: What is it we actually mean to be writing about\, and how can we bring that thread to the surface in revision? At the same time\, one of the great pleasures of reading is the consideration of suggestions or questions that remain just beneath the surface of the text. In this workshop\, we'll consider the “layers” of a story\, and we’ll explore how some of those subterranean layers can guide us toward structures and narrative arcs that serve the project. We'll negotiate the balance between what works best when said directly and what works best when it’s left to be discovered by the reader. Each workshop will open with discussion of a published short story and a brief responsive writing exercise\; then we’ll move to an in-depth discussion of work submitted by participants. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:dfa65d236f00331ae8f95e230166a44c URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/dfa65d236f00331ae8f95e230166a44c END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260619T150000Z DTEND:20260619T173000Z SUMMARY:Advanced Weeklong Fiction Workshop: Intimate Distance with Mat Johnson DESCRIPTION:Novels are long\, often unruly\, and inherently ambitious projects that require the writer to be both intimate with and distant from the text. It's easy to type a bunch of pages\, but it’s hard to make them captivate the reader and ensure that the journey adds up to more than the sum of its parts. This course will explore the tools needed to bring your novel-length manuscript to life in its strongest form. Your novel has strengths: we'll explore how you can build on them. Your novel has weaknesses: we'll identify them and create strategies for you to overcome them. Together\, we'll reveal what your novel is actually about\, as opposed to what you planned for it to be. We’ll examine its hidden structures\, and we’ll enable your characters and their struggles to come alive on the page. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:fdd05b91c5f7438cf2125d09ca35877e URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/fdd05b91c5f7438cf2125d09ca35877e END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260619T150000Z DTEND:20260619T173000Z SUMMARY:Advanced Weeklong Fiction Workshop: Situation and Event with Brandon Taylor DESCRIPTION:In this weeklong workshop\, we’ll explore the intimate relationship between situation and event in narrative using work submitted by participants. The goal is to gain a stronger understanding of and appreciation for the underlying or pre-existing dramatic context that gives meaning to plot\, character actions\, and even the structure of a piece. We’ll use this stronger understanding to develop a more thorough conceptualization of our work so that we can make exciting\, unexpected\, and more meaningful choices in our stories. We’ll be working with the below definitions: Situation: All of the facts that comprise the starting condition of a character’s life at the beginning of a given story\, novel\, scene\, or act. We may understand situation as another word for circumstance raised to the level of dramatic action and intent. Event: The event is the happening or the trigger shot of a given scene\, story\, or novel. There are capital E Events and little e events. But regardless\, both kinds of events should be drawn out of the very bedrock of your narrative and dramatic situation. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:7327ca4a5b803abcbdf650facfef8ca7 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/7327ca4a5b803abcbdf650facfef8ca7 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260619T150000Z DTEND:20260619T173000Z SUMMARY:Advanced Weeklong Fiction Workshop: The BS Detector with Steve Almond DESCRIPTION:Writing is decision making\, nothing more and nothing less. What word? Where to place the comma? How to shape the paragraph? Join Steve Almond for a workshop focused on improving the decisions you make in your writing. By looking critically and carefully at other people’s work\, you’ll walk away with a better sense of how to improve your own. The idea is not to slow your rate of composition via compulsive revision\, but to instead make better decisions in the first place and to recognize quickly when you haven’t. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:e725ffa055401f93e0a67abf03767e9f URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/e725ffa055401f93e0a67abf03767e9f END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260619T150000Z DTEND:20260619T173000Z SUMMARY:Advanced Weeklong Fiction Workshop: Who's Telling Your Story? with Christopher Castellani DESCRIPTION:The most important decision a writer makes is who tells their story. In this workshop\, we will examine each other's manuscripts primarily through the lens of point of view and by using the concept of narrative strategy\, but we will also take each manuscript as a whole and discuss how all the craft elements are working together. The primary question we will ask is\, "How can the manuscript be a stronger\, deeper version of itself?" This workshop is open to short story writers and novelists with stand-alone excerpts. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:6e63b6dc06ad74425df7e9b2d01561d8 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/6e63b6dc06ad74425df7e9b2d01561d8 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260619T150000Z DTEND:20260619T173000Z SUMMARY:Advanced Weeklong Generative Fiction Workshop: Starting\, or Starting Over with Rebecca Makkai DESCRIPTION:In this generative workshop\, we’ll either begin brand new pieces\, or begin a brand new version of an old piece. In either case\, we’ll use our clean slates to find startling originality\, optimal angles of approach\, and the energies that will carry a story or novel through to the end. We’ll write both in class and outside of class and (voluntarily) share what we’ve written. In the last two days of class\, we’ll squeeze in mini-workshops on everyone’s opening page. Accepted participants do not need to come in with an idea of what to write\, although they may. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:884e92ac3c0a2538042aae6d12f44970 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/884e92ac3c0a2538042aae6d12f44970 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260619T150000Z DTEND:20260619T173000Z SUMMARY:Advanced Weeklong Nonfiction Workshop: Excavation with Andre Dubus III DESCRIPTION:We’ll begin with a difficult task: do not outline your novel or novella or short story or essay or memoir. Do not think out the plot\, the narrative arc\, the protagonist’s journey\, whatever you want to call it. Instead\, try to find the story through an honest excavation of the characters’ total experience of the situation in which they find themselves. Do that\, and the story will begin to write itself. But how\, precisely\, does one go about this “excavation”? And how\, technically speaking\, can we ignite a story into “writing itself”? Come to this workshop\, and we’ll demystify those writerly tools and skills that\, time and time again\, if they are sharp enough\, and if the writer can summon enough daily faith and nerve\, can penetrate the mystery of story itself. Fiction\, as well as creative nonfiction is welcome. We will be doing in-class writing exercises and workshopping each participant’s submission. CATEGORIES:NONFICTION/MEMOIR LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:c00c759944c41c530ef1e1f230c3c3e0 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/c00c759944c41c530ef1e1f230c3c3e0 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260619T150000Z DTEND:20260619T173000Z SUMMARY:Advanced Weeklong Nonfiction Workshop: Find Your Focus with Beth Nguyen DESCRIPTION:Maybe you’ve been wanting to try writing creative nonfiction. Maybe you have been writing it but are feeling a little bit stuck. Maybe you’re restless\, curious. Maybe you’re wondering how to create a cohesive work out of a lifetime of material. Where to start? How to shape it? This generative workshop is geared toward inspiration\, starts and restarts\, and rethinking nonfiction\, at any level. Whether you’re interested in memoir\, essays\, memoir-in-essays\, or anything in between\, you’ll find guidance\, support\, writing prompts\, and discussion aimed at helping you figure out your writing process. We’ll talk about ideas\, structure\, perspective\, ethical concerns (how do we know what we should write? how do we write about other people?)\, and more. This workshop is all about gaining greater focus and understanding as we generate work and ideas in a fun and supportive environment. CATEGORIES:NONFICTION/MEMOIR LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:604e3f7016f7c15cdbca55bbbcfff87a URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/604e3f7016f7c15cdbca55bbbcfff87a END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260619T150000Z DTEND:20260619T173000Z SUMMARY:Advanced Weeklong Nonfiction Workshop: Mapping the Memoir with Emily Rapp Black DESCRIPTION:Art is architecture\; art is artificial\; art is...? The biggest challenge for any writer of narrative is finding the map from beginning to end. This workshop is designed for writers working on book-length memoirs who wish to delve more deeply into the issues of structure\, style\, and voice: these three craft points will be our focus\, as they make up the net that holds a narrative together in a propulsive\, engaging\, immersive\, and beautiful way. The goal of this workshop is to take your completed manuscript to the next level. We'll also discuss different avenues of publication. CATEGORIES:NONFICTION/MEMOIR LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:584e6bebb22ecfea7ede257f4db58da0 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/584e6bebb22ecfea7ede257f4db58da0 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260619T150000Z DTEND:20260619T173000Z SUMMARY:Advanced Weeklong Nonfiction Workshop: Shadow Narratives with Rachel Louise Snyder DESCRIPTION:Behind every piece of narrative nonfiction there exists a dual narrative. This partnership of story with meaning is often the blend that provides memoir\, personal essay\, and narrative nonfiction pieces with both tension and emotional consequence. There is the story as it exists on the page\, and then there is the shadow narrative\, whispering behind that story\, trying to make sense of it. In this weeklong workshop\, students will be asked to explore these dual narratives in their own work and in published works from contemporary practitioners such as Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah\, Eula Biss\, Richard McCann\, and others. Particular attention will be paid to voice and point of view. CATEGORIES:NONFICTION/MEMOIR LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:882b8a7a99742a6c5411971fbe540db6 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/882b8a7a99742a6c5411971fbe540db6 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260619T150000Z DTEND:20260619T173000Z SUMMARY:Advanced Weeklong Poetry Workshop: Draft Exclusion with Paul Muldoon DESCRIPTION:The popular image of the poet is as a dasher off of poem drafts. So manic and mercurial are poets’ imaginations that not even champion typists can keep abreast of them. If there’s a problem\, it’s something to which they can return in a quiet moment way down the road. The focus of this week will be to set ourselves against this popular image\, to make every moment a quiet moment\, to fix problems as they arise\, to revise even as the poem’s vision for itself is slowly coming into being and\, in the end\, to cut down on a lot of unnecessary work. The key to this approach is to write the poem one line at a time\, to allow one idea to lead to another\, and to avoid getting ahead of ourselves. When we implement this approach\, the poem is now\, paradoxically\, more likely to bring us to a place of genuine immediacy and vitality which had hitherto been illusory. CATEGORIES:POETRY LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:41e375ddad2be62e6bb1e94264e00b7c URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/41e375ddad2be62e6bb1e94264e00b7c END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260619T150000Z DTEND:20260619T173000Z SUMMARY:No Genre/All Genre Generative Lab with Eileen Myles DESCRIPTION:In this weeklong seminar\, poets\, fiction writers\, and memoirists (and even non-writers) will re-consider and even de-rail their works in progress (or write new ones) informed by some new approaches\, formal constraints\, good talk\, and engagement with other art forms. We’ll write at least four pieces this week\, taking cues from the history of poetry and prose\, music\, photos\, and film\, and we will effectively banish the lines that separate these forms of expression in order to instill our own work with the real breadth of this postmodern world. Bring a song\, a problem (aesthetic or personal)\, or at least one significant photo\, stuffed animal\, flyer\, something—a piece of real or artificial fruit. The goal is to create a live working environment\, a studio effect\, in order to generate more work and to get reinstalled or re-awakened in our writing process.\n \n *Since this is a generative class and can accommodate a few more people\, Eileen cannot meet one-on-one with each participant\, but they tend to be around Lit Fest and there are ample opportunities for additional talks. CATEGORIES:POETRY LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:afad5104683711c0fc770c77a6f1d190 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/afad5104683711c0fc770c77a6f1d190 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260619T180000Z DTEND:20260619T190000Z SUMMARY:Lunchtime Business Panel: The Current State of Publishing—Agents and Authors Dish DESCRIPTION:Panelists include: Elizabeth Copps (Copps Literary Services)\, Anjali Singh (The Anjali Singh Agency)\, Megan Posco (Posco Publicity)\, Jane Friedman\, and Evanthia Bromiley. \;\n\nPublishing has always had its share of gatekeeping\, but the landscape has never looked quite like this. AI is reshaping how stories are written\, sold\, and evaluated\; hybrid publishers are dangling legitimacy at prices that should give any writer pause\; and bots\, scams\, and social media fraudsters are multiplying faster than anyone can track. In this candid panel\, agents and authors cut through the noise — what's real\, what's predatory\, and how to tell the difference. Come with questions. Leave with your wallet intact. CATEGORIES:PUBLISHING/CAREER LOCATION:TBA\, 3844 York Street\, Denver\, CO 80305 SEQUENCE:0 UID:e9b6fe9c41b1f9a75aa176013bf3e7fd URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/e9b6fe9c41b1f9a75aa176013bf3e7fd END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260619T180000Z DTEND:20260619T190000Z SUMMARY:Lunchtime Business Panel: The Current State of Publishing—Agents and Authors Dish (Livestream) DESCRIPTION:Panelists include: Elizabeth Copps (Copps Literary Services)\, Anjali Singh (The Anjali Singh Agency)\, Megan Posco (Posco Publicity)\, Jane Friedman\, and Evanthia Bromiley. \;\n\nPublishing has always had its share of gatekeeping\, but the landscape has never looked quite like this. AI is reshaping how stories are written\, sold\, and evaluated\; hybrid publishers are dangling legitimacy at prices that should give any writer pause\; and bots\, scams\, and social media fraudsters are multiplying faster than anyone can track. In this candid panel\, agents and authors cut through the noise — what's real\, what's predatory\, and how to tell the difference. Come with questions. Leave with your wallet intact. CATEGORIES:PUBLISHING/CAREER LOCATION:Virtual SEQUENCE:0 UID:527d9c52c0e7f1fb46993ecd255e0215 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/527d9c52c0e7f1fb46993ecd255e0215 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260619T193000Z DTEND:20260619T213000Z SUMMARY:Advanced Structure Lab: Break the Story Free with Dean Bakopoulos DESCRIPTION:In this seminar designed for screenwriters and prose writers of all levels\, we’ll use dramatic structure to help us get unstuck. Bring along a draft that’s failing or an idea that’s not finding a form\, and we’ll explore the intricacies and opportunities of narrative structure. Over the course of this week\, we’ll utilize a four-part system Bakopoulos developed while writing television pilot scripts (but that YOU can apply to any form of narrative writing—short stories\, memoirs\, novels\, screenplays\, TV scripts\, plays etc.) to move past any literary obstructions you’re battling.\n \n \n While no system is a magic potion that can take away the agonies of creation\, this character-based approach to structure allows you to rethink the possibilities of your project. We'll discuss characters and their journeys towards liberation\, as well as the notion of dramatic escalation\, the tension between exposition and plot\, the construction of compelling scenes\, and the importance of unexpected dialogue and minor characters. We’ll watch scenes from great television pilot episodes and feature films as examples to illustrate these principles\;we’ll also read a few passages of prose.\n \n \n We’ll take part in at least one generative exercise per session\; by the fifth day of the course\, you will have a shiny new four-part outline that will help you successfully revise\, or finally draft\, a stuck project.\n \n \n *Dean's weeklong seminar is two hours each day and does not include one-on-one meetings. The tuition is also adjusted (down) from the typical weeklong workshop. CATEGORIES:DRAMATIC WRITING LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:d37e77be2ad29b501358fe5b8d9050fe URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/d37e77be2ad29b501358fe5b8d9050fe END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260619T193000Z DTEND:20260619T213000Z SUMMARY:Absolute Fiction DESCRIPTION:In an age of both metafiction and high fantasy\, writers have grown shy of writing realistic experiences wildly different than their own. Why have we lost the confidence to utterly make shit up and say it with authority? How can we get it back?  \;\n \nIn this seminar\, we’ll talk about writing away from the self and the lived experience\, the research that makes such stories believable\, and the narrative possibilities that give us control over completely fictional worlds. We’ll touch on the ethics\, difficulties\, and occasional necessity of writing genders\, races\, sexual orientations\, abilities\, ages\, religions\, etc. different from our own\, and we’ll focus more deeply on how to make stories up out of whole cloth and fully inhabit characters who aren’t you.\n\nThis is the in-person version of this event. \n\n CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:4d7cdc7fed6dac3892bbfa177a84687c URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/4d7cdc7fed6dac3892bbfa177a84687c END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260619T193000Z DTEND:20260619T213000Z SUMMARY:Absolute Fiction (Livestream) DESCRIPTION:In an age of both metafiction and high fantasy\, writers have grown shy of writing realistic experiences wildly different than their own. Why have we lost the confidence to utterly make shit up and say it with authority? How can we get it back?  \;\n \nIn this seminar\, we’ll talk about writing away from the self and the lived experience\, the research that makes such stories believable\, and the narrative possibilities that give us control over completely fictional worlds. We’ll touch on the ethics\, difficulties\, and occasional necessity of writing genders\, races\, sexual orientations\, abilities\, ages\, religions\, etc. different from our own\, and we’ll focus more deeply on how to make stories up out of whole cloth and fully inhabit characters who aren’t you.\n\nThis is the livestream version of this event. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:Virtual SEQUENCE:0 UID:ef30f32b4d2c22ea234503666cdfa04f URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/ef30f32b4d2c22ea234503666cdfa04f END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260619T193000Z DTEND:20260619T213000Z SUMMARY:Strange Beasts: Wild Structures and Architectures DESCRIPTION:In this class we will examine works that use their architecture\, or structure as a vessel to carry and deliver meaning. We might examine the works of Italo Calvino\, Anne Carson\, Max Porter\, Bernardine Evaristo\, and Olga Tokarczuk…among others. Bring a story in which the architecture is asking: how might I be wilder? CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:54c4b7e75fda145c92cd9381fbb15407 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/54c4b7e75fda145c92cd9381fbb15407 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260619T193000Z DTEND:20260619T213000Z SUMMARY:The Propulsive Narrative: Creating and Maintaining Momentum DESCRIPTION:You have a great premise. Maybe a gripping first chapter. But now your characters are wandering around contemplating the scenery\, and you can't seem to make them do anything else. Sound familiar? If you want to write the sort of story that a reader cannot put down\, you need to create urgency on every page. We’ll look at tools employed by writers of thrillers and suspense novels and explore strategies for creating a propulsive read no matter what sort of book you are writing. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:67bd740e96dc9051b2beb0cc5e63fe30 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/67bd740e96dc9051b2beb0cc5e63fe30 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260619T193000Z DTEND:20260619T213000Z SUMMARY:Behind the Frame: To See\, To Feel\, to Know DESCRIPTION:Sometimes even the most familiar or memorable photographs mask the emotional truth of a moment. In this seminar\, we’ll look at both new and well-known images from historical moments that capture or fail to capture the stories that exist behind them. Students will explore the relationship between visual representation and emotional gradation through discussion and experimental written exercises. CATEGORIES:NONFICTION/MEMOIR LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:aa9a097d455986eba568b9e5c1448bdb URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/aa9a097d455986eba568b9e5c1448bdb END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260619T193000Z DTEND:20260619T213000Z SUMMARY:How To Be an Asshole DESCRIPTION:Stories need villains and brutes\, scoundrels and jerks\, creeps and lowlifes. Collectively\, let’s call them assholes. They create conflict\, suspense\, and intrigue. They’re often the most interesting characters in a story. But writers are\, generally\, nice people. How do we put ourselves into the mind of the asshole? How do we give them their humanity without denying their depravity? Let’s explore how to be an asshole (on the page) by exploring their mindset and ways to write it without becoming one ourselves. This will be a discussion-based class with examples by the masters and directed exercises. CATEGORIES:WRITING PROCESS LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:e7cfa4fafd89ed5383811adf339a885b URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/e7cfa4fafd89ed5383811adf339a885b END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260619T193000Z DTEND:20260619T213000Z SUMMARY:Lens DESCRIPTION:What the heck is lens? It’s merely a vital element of craft utilized on every line of every page of your writing. It helps you find meaning in detail\, action\, vision\, and it allows space for subtext. Why is the sofa in your scene gold? If you don’t know\, then it’s time to learn how lens works. In this class we’ll read great examples of lens (actually\, any page of good writing can show us)\, and we’ll work through exercises to sharpen your own. CATEGORIES:WRITING PROCESS LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:068a86783dce57493297ba6125c8c1e4 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/068a86783dce57493297ba6125c8c1e4 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260619T193000Z DTEND:20260619T213000Z SUMMARY:Unlock Ideas with Maps DESCRIPTION:Drawing inspiration from maps—real and imagined—in this generative workshop we’ll explore how to unlock memories\, create worlds\, and discover details we may not have thought of otherwise. We’ll consider recent and ancient cartographic maps but also search for what’s revealed in the often unmapped\, such as radio waves permeating the air\, light cast by street lights or wind chimes in a neighborhood. We’ll discuss how authors create narratives for prose and poems on the concept of maps and write from prompts based on maps we create (no artistry needed) and those we study. CATEGORIES:WRITING PROCESS LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:c52c95344e70c20a611fc2ecf23289b1 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/c52c95344e70c20a611fc2ecf23289b1 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260619T214500Z DTEND:20260620T013000Z SUMMARY:Lit Fest Closing Party DESCRIPTION:Help us toast the closing of another year of Lit Fest with delicious food and drinks alongside friends both new and old.\n\nWe will have a Sober 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. \;\n\nFor more resources and recovery meetings close to Lighthouse\, you can visit: https://www.yorkstreetclub.com/Schedule CATEGORIES:ALL GENRES LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:4937dad96ac1e1906dc06983639b86c6 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/4937dad96ac1e1906dc06983639b86c6 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260626T052532Z DTSTART:20260619T220000Z DTEND:20260620T010000Z SUMMARY:Two-Day Intensive: The 48-Hour Story or Essay DESCRIPTION:Ready\, set\, write! In this generative class\, 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. CATEGORIES:FICTION LOCATION:Lighthouse Writers Workshop\, 3844 York St\, Denver\, CO 80205\, USA SEQUENCE:0 UID:fbc76447733fc26c3aec32d2c7bfa649 URL:http://litfestlighthousewriterswor.sched.com/event/fbc76447733fc26c3aec32d2c7bfa649 END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR