Whether your interest lies in memoir, essay, journalism, or other types of writing, we’re welcoming all nonfiction writers to Lit Fest 2025. We can’t wait to see you there! Choose intensives, seminars, and events à la carte, or sign up for one of our festival passes for the full experience. Please note that courses marked “Virtual” are held entirely on Zoom for all participants and the instructor. Virtual courses are fully participatory. Courses marked “Livestream” will be available virtually as an option, but there will be many attendees in person, and the instructor will be lecturing in person. Participation is more limited in this format, though moderators will do their best to relay questions from the chat.
Please note that workshops with a strike-through are sold out!
Two-Day Intensives
June 7-8, 9:00 AM-12:00 PM MST
TWO-DAY INTENSIVE: BREAKING THE SURFACE—REVISION
William Haywood Henderson
In this intensive, we’ll break the surface of our drafts and discover the potential for meaningful change. Writers will come away with an expanded understanding of their texts.
June 7-8, 9:00 AM-12:00 PM MST
TWO-DAY INTENSIVE: STRANGE STORY STRUCTURES
Erika Krouse
In this two-day intensive, we’ll read, explore, and try a variety of short story structures that range from the alternative to the bizarre: the montage, the list, the instructional, the backward story, metafiction, the “Rashomon,” the floater, and much more!
June 7-8, 9:00 AM-12:00 PM MST (Virtual)
TWO-DAY INTENSIVE: FINISH IT! PERSPECTIVE AND PERSISTENCE
Khadijah Queen
Working on a long poem, story, essay, play, or book? What will it take to finish? This intensive will provide solutions and strategies in the form of planning sessions, readings, discussions, writing exercises, charts, and other resources.
June 7-8, 9:00 AM-12:00 PM MST
TWO-DAY INTENSIVE: EXPERIMENTS IN FORM—AUDRE LORDE
Suzi Q. Smith
Participants in this two-day intensive will enjoy close reading and discussion of excerpts from Audre Lorde's poems and essays, accompanied by generative exercises designed for writers to begin drafting poems and lyric essays.
June 7-8, 1:00-4:00 PM MST
TWO-DAY INTENSIVE: “I READ IT IN ONE SITTING”—ON PACING
Anna Qu
The art of pacing is about the decisions we're making as writers, from sentence structure to showing and telling. This generative craft lesson will look at concrete examples and writing prompts.
June 7-8, 1:00-4:00 PM MST
TWO-DAY INTENSIVE: ASKING THE ORACLE | DIVINATION AS DISCIPLINE
Sarah Elizabeth Schantz
In this two-day intensive, we'll experiment with the stations of “The Midwife” and “The Medium” to catch/channel the writing and reVISION to come.
June 11-12, 4:00-7:00 PM MST
TWO-DAY INTENSIVE: COMEDIC MEMOIR
Elissa Bassist
There are many types of comedy and many comedic tools, and we’ll talk about how to use them all to write 200+ pages. We’ll refer to a few perfect comedic memoirs as examples. In this lecture-style class, students will brainstorm and receive informative handouts and inspirational assignments.
June 12-13, 4:00-7:00 PM MST (Virtual)
TWO-DAY INTENSIVE: THE PROBLEM WITH EVIL
John Cotter
With so much real-life villainy afoot, with readers turning to books both for solace and for answers, questions about writing satisfying villains feel urgent as ever. Let’s have a look at what successful stories have done, and how they've done it, and let's try a bunch of exercises together to make an old problem new.
Craft seminars, business panels, and evening events
Friday, June 6
Morning Session (9:00 to 11:00 AM MST)
- WRITING BEYOND WALLS: RESILIENCE AND DIFFICULT SUBJECT MATTER with Hillary Leftwich
- TUNING IN: USING MUSIC AND PLAYLISTS TO DEVELOP CHARACTER IN PROSE with Anthony D’Aries
- WORDS THAT WOO: LITERARY ACTIVISM with Ellen Blum Barish (Virtual)
- AUTHOR WEBSITES 101: YOUR GUIDE TO DESIGNING, BRANDING, AND LAUNCHING YOUR SUCCESSFUL SITE with HR Hegnauer
- THE ART OF THE CRÓNICA with Javier Sinay (Virtual)
Lunchtime Session (12:00-1:00 PM MST)
- LUNCHTIME BUSINESS PANEL: BEYOND BIG BOOK PUBLISHING—HYBRID, INDIE, SELF with Shana Kelly, Terri Lewis, Poupeh Missaghi, and Cynthia Swanson (Livestream)
Afternoon Session (1:30 to 3:30 PM MST)
- WELCOME TO THE SH*T SHOW: YOUR INCITING INCIDENT with Erika Krouse
- QUEER(ING) IMAGES FOR OUR FUTURES with Kanika Agrawal
- ERASURES, LACUNAE, AND VOIDS: WRITING WHAT’S NOT THERE with Sasha Geffen
- I’LL FOLLOW YOU INTO THE DARK: LETTING THE UNKNOWN DRIVE YOUR PERSONAL NARRATIVE with Gina DeMillo Wagner
- CREATING OUR PERSONAL LANGUAGE with Oso Guardiola (Virtual)
- THE ART OF CONDENSARY with Alyse Knorr
- STRUCTURE AND THE ART OF NOT-KNOWING IN THE CREATIVE NONFICTION BOOK with Claire Dederer (Livestream)
Early Evening Session (4:00-6:00 PM MST)
- DYNAMIC SCENES with Erika Krouse
- WRITE A HAPPY STORY with Nick Arvin
- DEVELOPING WRITING HABITS with Poupeh Missaghi
- VOCATIONAL POETICS: WORKING, WRITING, CALLING OUT with Cass Eddington
- THE IMPORTANCE OF GAPS with Karen Auvinen (Virtual)
- “TELL ME WHAT YOU REALLY THINK”: WRITING DIALOGUE with Alexander Lumans
Saturday, June 7
Morning Session (9:00-11:00 AM MST)
- ART OF CREATIVE RESEARCH with Ladane Nasseri (Virtual)
- MANAGING THE MIDDLE: HOW TO NOT LOSE READERS ALONG THE WAY with Kristin Koval
- WHEN EVERYTHING CHANGED: WRITING YOUR MARKER STORY with Ellen Blum Barish (Virtual)
Lunchtime Session (12:00-1:00 PM MST)
- LUNCHTIME BUSINESS PANEL: YOUR AGENT ITINERARY— TIPS FOR REPRESENTATION with Nate Moscato, Haley Casey, Brenna English-Loeb, and Elizabeth Copps (Livestream)
Afternoon Session (1:30-3:30 PM MST)
- FACING FEARS: FLASH FICTION, PROSE POETRY, AND HYBRID FORMS with Juan J. Morales
- CHATGPT IS MY SECRETARY with Erika Krouse (Virtual)
Early Evening Session (4:00-6:00 PM MST)
- CULTIVATE YOUR METAPHORS with Teow Lim Goh
- LEARNING CRAFT TECHNIQUES FROM LITERATURE IN TRANSLATION with Poupeh Missaghi
Evening Session (7:00-8:15 PM MST)
- VISITING AUTHORS READING with Nicole Chung, Claire Dederer, Katie Kitamura, and Solmaz Sharif (Livestream)
Sunday, June 8
Morning Session (9:00-11:00 AM MST)
- ART WRITING, WRITING ART with Katie Kitamura (Livestream)
- WRITING FOOD with Poupeh Missaghi
- INTIMATE STRANGERS: WRITING THE FAMILY with Ladane Nasseri (Virtual)
Lunchtime Session (12:00-1:00 PM MST)
- LUNCHTIME BUSINESS PANEL: TRUTH OF WRITING ABOUT OUR FAMILIES, FRIENDS, AND OTHER REAL PEOPLE—PERMISSION AND CONSEQUENCES with Amanda McCracken and Anna Qu (Livestream)
Afternoon Session (1:30-3:30 PM MST)
- DRAMA-RAMA: CONFLICT AND DRAMATIC QUESTIONS with Erika Krouse
Monday, June 9
Morning Session (9:00-11:00 AM MST)
- LITERARY LIGHTNING: FINDING THE POETRY IN YOUR PROSE with Ellen Blum Barish (Virtual)
Lunchtime Session (12:00-1:00 PM MST)
- LUNCHTIME BUSINESS PANEL: GETTING PAST THE GATEKEEPERS with Jenny Shank (Livestream)
Afternoon Session (1:30-3:30 PM MST)
- MY OWN ALPHABET with Sarah Elizabeth Schantz
- HOW TO CREATE UNFORGETTABLE CHARACTERS with Steve Almond (Livestream)
- THE LAUNDRY LINE with Natalie Hodges (Virtual)
- BORDERLESS: WRITING AGAINST CONTAINMENT with Kanika Agrawal
- SO YOU WANT TO GO INDIE with Cynthia Swanson
- PRACTICAL PUBLISHING: JOURNALS AS MODELS FOR YOUR WORK with Hillary Leftwich
- TRAGEDY PLUS TIME: WRITING TRAUMEDY with Elissa Bassist
- SYMBOLISM AND METAPHOR: THEY AREN’T JUST FOR FICTION with Angelique Stevens (Virtual)
Early Evening Session (4:00-6:00 PM MST)
- WRITING IN COLOR PRESENTS: FINDING THE GHOST with Ingrid Rojas Contreras
- BUILDING THE WRITER’S NOTEBOOK with Jenny Shank
- CHANNELING PALIMPSEST IN YOUR WRITING with Malinda Miller
- THE BIG VOICE: HOW TO AMPLIFY YOUR NARRATIVES with Sarah Elizabeth Schantz
- FIRST DRAFT LIVE: THE DEBUT JOURNEY with Mitzi Rapkin, Nini Berndt, and Evanthia Bromiley (4:30-6:30 PM MST)
- WRITING THE SELF: CONSIDERATIONS OF CHARACTER, PERSPECTIVE, AND SCENE with Karen Auvinen (Virtual)
Evening Session (7:00-8:15 PM MST)
- VISITING AUTHORS READING with Mat Johnson, Alex Mariano-Lesnevitch, and Elizabeth McCracken (Livestream)
Tuesday, June 10
Morning Session (9:00-11:00 AM MST)
- THE RADICAL FOUR-ACT EASTERN STORYTELLING STRUCTURE with Henry Lien (Virtual)
Lunchtime Session (12:00-1:00 PM MST)
- LUNCHTIME BUSINESS PANEL: PERFECT PAIRING with Christina Rivera, Evanthia Bromiley, Julie Stevenson, and Jennifer Lyons (Livestream)
Afternoon Session (1:30-3:30 PM MST)
- THE POWER OF DESCRIPTION with Paul Harding (Livestream)
- LETTER TO A STRANGER with Alexander Lumans
- DIVING INTO THE WRECK—FINDING YOUR OBSESSIONS with William Haywood Henderson
- THE ART OF LITERARY SUBMISSION with Jenny Shank
Early Evening Session (4:00-6:00 PM MST)
- PLACE-BASED WRITING with Karen Auvinen (Virtual)
- HOW TO WRITE RIVETING SCENES with Steve Almond
- FIND YOUR UNIQUE STYLE with William Haywood Henderson
- TO OUTLINE OR BLAST AHEAD? THAT IS THE QUESTION with Cynthia Swanson
Evening Session (7:00-8:15 PM MST)
- VISITING AUTHORS READING with Steve Almond, Ingrid Rojas Contreras, Eduardo Corral, and Paul Harding (Livestream)
Wednesday, June 11
Morning Session (9:00-11:00 AM MST)
- NON-LINEAR STRUCTURES FROM NON-WESTERN STORYTELLING with Henry Lien (Virtual)
Lunchtime Session (12:00-1:00 PM MST)
- LUNCHTIME BUSINESS PANEL: BOOK LAUNCH, BEHIND THE SCENES with Gloria J. Browne-Marshall, Jan Thomas, and Samantha Shea (Livestream)
Afternoon Session (1:30-3:30 PM MST)
- A PREMISE IS NOT A PROMISE: THRIVING AFTER THE FIRST SENTENCE with Alexander Lumans
- WRITE LIVELIHOOD: MAKING A LIVING AS A WRITER with Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg (Virtual)
- CLOSE, CLOSE (CLOSE) THIRD PERSON with Erika Krouse
- THE SITUATION AND THE STORY with Natalie Hodges (Virtual)
- HOW TO HOOK A READER IN YOUR FIRST TEN PAGES with Rachel Weaver
- STORY AS SCRAPBOOK: STRUCTURING PROSE WITH DOCUMENTS, LETTERS, JOURNAL ENTRIES, AND ARTICLES with Jenny Shank
Early Evening Session (4:00-6:00 PM MST)
- FREELANCE WRITING: GETTING STARTED AND BUILDING YOUR CAREER with Jenny Shank
- ENDINGS: HOW TO WRAP THINGS UP with Mary Robinette Kowal
Thursday, June 12
Morning Session (9:00-11:00 AM MST)
- LIVE IN THE LAYERS: MINDFULNESS AND WRITING with Caryn Miriam-Goldberg (Virtual)
Lunchtime Session (12:00-1:00 PM MST)
- LUNCHTIME BUSINESS PANEL: LATE-BREAKING PUBLISHING WORLD with Paige Terlip, Paloma Hernando, Elizabeth Pratt, and Jennifer Chen Tran (Livestream)
Afternoon Session (1:30-3:30 PM MST)
- SELL ESSAYS THAT BOOST YOUR BOOK’S POTENTIAL with Amanda McCracken
- WRITING INTO THE TIME-SPACE EXPANSE: A PSYCHEDELIC LIT SEMINAR with Hillary Brenhouse
- HOW TO WRITE SEX SCENES WITHOUT SHAME with Steve Almond
- WRITING THE LAW with Gloria J. Browne-Marshall
- IMAGINATION STATION with Erika Krouse
Early Evening Session (4:00-6:00 PM MST)
- STORY STRUCTURE AND SHAPE with Dino Enrique Piacentini
- WRITING CINEMATICALLY: USING MOVING PICTURES TO TELL YOUR STORY with Karen Auvinen (Virtual)
- WRITING FIGHT SCENES with Daniel Levine (Virtual)
Evening Session (7:00-8:15 PM MST)
- VISITING AUTHORS READING with Helen Phillips, Eileen Myles, Tony Tulathimutte, and Matthew Zapruder (Livestream)
Friday, June 13
Lunchtime Session (12:00-1:00 PM MST)
- LUNCHTIME BUSINESS PANEL: LIT-MAG LANDSCAPE with Alexander Lumans, Paul M. French, Hillary Brenhouse, Lena Valencia, and Wendy Chen (Livestream)
Afternoon Session (1:30-3:30 PM MST)
- FINDING THE AGENCY IN YOUR MEMOIR with Anna Qu
- WRITING FAMILY MEMBERS AS CHARACTERS with Alex Marzano-Lesnevich
- HOW TO PUBLISH A BOOK WHILE STAYING (REASONABLY) SANE with Jenny Shank
- TAKING IT OFF THE NOSE: USING DIALOGUE TO SHOW CONFLICT AND DEVELOP CHARACTER with Karen Auvinen
- DETAILS THAT MATTER with William Haywood Henderson
- MAKING THE PERSONAL UNIVERSAL: FIVE WAYS TO CONNECT YOUR STORY TO A WIDER AUDIENCE with Gina DeMillo Wagner
