Lit Fest

    Lit Fest is an eight-day celebration of writers and readers, an extravaganza of weeklong and weekend advanced workshops, craft seminars, readings, salons, business panels, agent meetings, and parties. Lit Fest 2025 will take place June 6–13

    Applications for weeklong and weekend workshops open January 1 and close March 8.

    Choose workshops and events à la carte or sign up for one of our festival passes for the full experience. Click here to browse the 2024 schedule to get a sense of the programming. The full schedule will be released in early April. 

    Visiting Authors for 2025 include fiction writers Steve Almond, Mat Johnson, Katie Kitamura, Helen Phillips, Douglas Stuart, and Tony Tulathimutte; nonfiction writers Ingrid Rojas Contreras, Nicole Chung, Claire Dederer, Alex Marzano-Lesnevitch, Elizabeth McCracken, and Eileen Myles; poets Eduardo Corral, Solmaz Sharif, and more

    Fellowships in fiction, nonfiction, and poetry will be judged by Megha Majumdar, Mark Sundeen, and Rowan Ricardo Phillips.

    Visiting agents and editors for Lit Fest 2024 included Amy Bishop-Wycisk (Trellis Literary Management), Sandra Bond (Bond Literary Agency), Sarah Bowlin (Aevitas Creative Management), Danielle Bukowski (Sterling Lord Literistic), Elizabeth DeMeo (Tinhouse Books), Angela Flores (Poetry Magazine), Renée Jarvis (Triangle House Literary), Mira Landry (Corvisiero Literary Agency), Kayla Lightner (Ayesha Pande Literary), Rebecca Shaevitz (Verve Talent & Literary Agency), Marin Takikawa (The Friedrich Agency), Abby Walters (Creative Artists Agency), Jennifer Wortman (Colorado Review). Lit Fest passholders have the option of meeting one-on-one with an agent or editor during Lit Fest.

    Have questions? Visit our Lit Fest FAQs or give us a call at 303.297.1185.

    Advanced Workshops

    Lit Fest features advanced weeklong and weekend courses taught by visiting authors of the highest caliber. Participation is by application only, and classes are limited to 10 (prose) or 12 (poetry and generative workshops) students each. Applications will open January 1.

    Fellowships

    Our Lit Fest Fellowships for Emerging Writers and LARKK Fellowships for Writers with Physical Disabilities help defray the costs of a weeklong or weekend advanced workshop for writers with financial need. Applications will open January 1.

    Craft Seminars

    Lit Fest craft seminars give writers of all levels the chance to gain new insight into particular topics, techniques, or genres. Whether you’re interested in learning more about breaking into blogging, creating colorful characters, or perfecting that fight scene, we’ve got a class for you.

    Salons + Readings

    Stick around after class for our nighttime salons, which feature author panels on a variety of literary topics. Or stay to hear a free reading from Lit Fest participants and instructors, including our visiting authors.

    Agent Consultations

    Need publishing advice? Our Full-Access Business Pass gets you a one-on-one consultation with Lit Fest's visiting literary agents and editors. Visiting agents and editors will be announced in April.

    Weekend Intensives

    Want to learn more about a specific element of craft? Dive into the work of a certain writer? Lit Fest weekend intensives offer participants the chance to spend one or two weekends in focused study on a particular topic.

    Business Panels

    How do you submit to literary magazines? What’s the best way to find an agent? Our daily lunchtime Business Panels provide the advice you need to master the publishing side of writing. Bring a lunch and join us.

    Sponsor Lit Fest

    Learn how to connect with our community and make an impact on the Lit Fest experience.

    Passes

    We have passes available for every type of festival goer, from the Glitterati Pass for evening events to full-access passes to seminars and panels. Passes for Lit Fest will be available in April, 2025

    I’ve learned that Lighthouse thrives on rigor and quality, but never on exclusivity. As is true of how I feel about many things I’ve come to love in Denver, I both do and don’t hope that the rest of the country discovers the power of what exists here.
    —Carrie Esposito