Below you'll find the complete guide to everything dramatic writing at Lit Fest 2021, including craft seminars and readings from headliner Sarah Ruhl. Choose intensives, seminars, and events á la carte or sign up for one of our festival passes for the full experience.
CRAFT SEMINARS
To view all of the Lit Fest craft seminars, visit this page.
Friday, June 4
Saturday, June 5
- The Narrative Foundation with Nick Arvin
- Tuning in to Your Characters: Using Music as Characterization with Anthony D'Aries
- The First Ten Pages: Pilots and Screenplays with Joey Siara
- Maintaining a Consistent Writing Practice with Steven Dunn and Suzi Q. Smith
- Information Wars: From Dazed to Amazed with Helen DeWitt
- Truth into Fiction with John Cotter
- Creating Art in Dark Times with R. Alan Brooks
- Creating Compelling Characters with Mathangi Subramanian
Sunday, June 6
- Writer as Cartographer with Poupeh Missaghi
- Storyselling: Learning to Pitch Ideas with Will McCance
Monday, June 7
- Stealing from Suspense with Tiffany Quay Tyson
- History into Narrative with Joel Warner
- What’s at Stake? with William Haywood Henderson
- Where Poetry Meets Playwriting with Sarah Ruhl
Tuesday, June 8
- The Actor's Guide to Backstory with Susan Knudten
- It Only Hurts When I Laugh: Writing with Humor with Erika Krouse
- Hermit Crabbing Your Prose: Moving Narrative into a New Structures with Chip Livingston
- Bad to the Bone: Writing Villains with Erika Krouse
- Writing the Active Setting with Tiffany Quay Tyson
Wednesday, June 9
- Personal Archives with Leslie Jamison
- Multilingual Writing with Poupeh Missaghi
- Dissecting the Frog: Humor in Writing with Nick Arvin
Thursday, June 10
- True (or Untrue) Confessions with Erika Krouse
- Blocking a Scene with William Haywood Henderson
- Shut Up and Tell Me You Love Me: Dialogue Do's and Don'ts with Erika Krouse
- The Language of Love with Patrick Cottrell and Sarah Gerard
- Writing the Lost Loved One with Ellen Blum Barish
Friday, June 11
- Prompt Party with Joy Roulier Sawyer
- Live in the Layers: Mindfulness and Writing with Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg
Saturday, June 12
- Oh So Little Time with Paula Younger
- Digging Up Your Ghosts: Vulnerable Writing and the Tools to Write Beyond the Grave with Hillary Leftwich
- Man with a Cake: Utility of Foil Characters with William Henry Lewis
Sunday, June 13
- Writing from the Family Archive with Carolina Ebeid
- Two Hours, Two Thousand Words with BK Loren
- City, Town, Countryside: Making a Place's Story Your Own with Jenny Shank
- Starting Your Screenplay From Scratch with Jenny Taylor-Whitehorn
- Starting Your Pilot From Scratch with Jenny Taylor-Whitehorn
- What to Write Next: In Search of Ideas with Traci Groff-Jones
BUSINESS PANEL
Friday, June 11: Business Panel: Dramatic Writing—What’s the Deal?
EVENING EVENTS
- Lit Fest Kickoff Party with emcee Adam Cayton-Holland, live music, and more on June 4
- Inspiration Tour with Alex McElroy, Tarfia Faizulla, Alexander Lumans, and Diana Khoi Nguyen on June 6
- The Lit Fest Virtual Spelling Bee, hosted by The Spelling Bee Company on June 12
VISITING AUTHOR READINGS
- Saturday, June 5: Visiting Authors Reading and Conversation: Azareen Van der Vliet Oloomi and Bryan Washington
- Monday, June 7: Visiting Authors Reading and Conversation: Hanif Abdurraqib and Layli Long Soldier
- Tuesday, June 8: Visiting Authors Reading and Conversation: Carolyn Forché and Gregory Pardlo
- Wednesday, June 9: Visiting Authors Reading and Conversation: Steve Almond and Rebecca Makkai
- Thursday, June 10: Visiting Authors Reading and Conversation: Emily Rapp Black, Jaquira Díaz, T Kira Madden
- Friday, June 11: Visiting Authors Reading and Conversation: Helen DeWitt, Sheila Heti, and Sarah Ruhl
- Sunday, June 13: Visiting Authors Reading and Conversation: Leslie Jamison, Mat Johnson
