Below you'll find the complete guide to everything drama at Lit Fest 2022, including craft seminars and readings from headliners P. Carl, Dan Chaon, Alissa Nutting, Nadia Owusu, and Laura van den Berg. Choose intensives, seminars, and events á la carte or sign up for one of our festival passes for the full experience.
Two-Weekend Intensives
Two-weekend intensives take place the weekends of June 10-11 and June 18-19
- Two-Weekend Intensive: Modulation—Your Voice and the Secrets of How to Use It (Denver) with William Haywood Henderson (afternoon)
Craft Seminars
To view all of the Lit Fest craft seminars, visit this page.
Friday, June 10
Morning
- The Psychology of Story (Denver) with Jenny Shank
- Simplifying the Hero's Journey (Denver) with Lija Fisher
Afternoon
- Speed Up, Slow Down, Pace Yourself (Denver) with Tiffany Quay Tyson
- Stop Making Sense: The Unconscious Necessity of Writing (Denver) with BK Loren
- Your Personal Imprint (Denver) with William Haywood Henderson
Saturday, June 11
Morning
- The Marvels of Marvel: Learning from The MCU (Zoom) with Jenny Taylor-Whitehorn
- Milieu: The World of Your Story (Denver) with Dino Enrique Piacentini
Afternoon
- How Character Informs your Plot (Denver) with Traci L. Jones
- Man with a Cake: Utility of Foil Characters (Denver) with William Henry Lewis
- Walking the Line Between the Comic and the Serious (Denver) with Steven Schwartz
Early Evening
- On Writing through the Lens of Not, Don’t, No (Denver) with Peter Markus
- Thinking Outside of the Narwhal: Revealing the Everyday Extraordinary in Prose (Denver)* with Alexander Lumans
Sunday, June 12
Morning
- Starting Your Screenplay From Scratch (Denver) with Jenny Taylor-Whitehorn
- Taking it off the Nose: How to Write Great Dialogue (Zoom) with Karen Auvinen
- Truth into Fiction: Autofiction, Autobiographical Fiction, Fictive Memoir (Denver) with John Cotter
Afternoon
- Creating Art in Dark Times (Denver) with R. Alan Brooks
- Place-Based Writing in the Time of Climate Change (Denver)* with Rachel Walker
- Visions of the Future (Zoom) with Daniel Levine
- Writing About Love Without Blushing (Zoom) with Alyse Knorr
Early Evening
- Corralling Chaos: Alternatives and Hacks for the Structurally-Challenged Writer (Zoom) with Clemintine Guirado
- Make Your Characters Work (Denver) with Nick Arvin
Monday, June 13
Morning
- Beginning Again (Zoom) with Cass Eddington
- Playing with Expectations (Denver) with Paula Younger
Afternoon
- All in their Feelings: Writing Emotion (Denver) with Traci L. Jones
- The Key To Strong Scene Work (Denver)* with Rachel Weaver
- Reading and Writing Displacement (Zoom) with Poupeh Missaghi
- Situation and the Story (Denver) with Paula Younger
Early Evening
- Building the Writer's Notebook (Denver) with Jenny Shank
- How to Craft an Irresistible Narrator (Denver)* with Steve Almond
- The Aesthetic (Zoom) with Sarah Elizabeth Schantz
- Producing Your Own Screenplay (Zoom) with Raeann Giles
- Creatures of Impulse: What All Writers Can Learn from TV (Denver)* with Dean Bakopoulos
Tuesday, June 14
Afternoon
- A Wrinkle in Time: How to Embrace Your Chronology and Tell the Story Straight (Denver)* with Steve Almond
- The Bad Idea Factory (Denver) with Andrea Bobotis
- Creating Emotion, Avoiding Melodrama (Denver) with Paula Younger
- Making Real Humans (Denver)* with Tiphanie Yanique
- Writing Detective Stories (Zoom) with Poupeh Missaghi
- Writing the Hard Stuff (Denver) with Erika Krouse
- Writing Wrongs (Zoom) with Ellen Blum Barish
Early Evening
- Witchcraft (Denver)* with Percival Everett
Wednesday, June 15
Morning
- Setting as Character (Denver)* with Erika Krouse
Afternoon
- Getting Emotional (Denver) with Tiffany Quay Tyson
- Object Lessons: An Exploration (Denver) with Laura van den Berg
- Prompt Party (Denver) with Joy Roulier Sawyer
Early Evening
- The Art of Consciousness (Denver)* with Nadia Owusu
- Hauntings and Divinations: Writing the Haunted Past and Flickering Future (Zoom) with Hillary Leftwich
Thursday, June 16
Morning
- The Five-Minute Concept Pitch (Denver) with Will McCance
- Plotting Effectively (Denver) with Rachel Weaver
- Strange and Uncanny: Fantastic Fiction (Zoom) with Trent Hudley
Afternoon
- 7 Key Ingredients for a Compelling Plot (Denver) with Rachel Weaver
- Character Building: Make Them Snap, Crackle, and Pop (Denver)* with Steve Almond
- Cut-Up and Remix (Denver) with Teow Lim Goh
Early Evening
- Maintaining a Consistent Writing Practice (Denver) with Steven Dunn and Suzi Q. Smith
- Set Dressing: Observation, Detail, and the Uncanny (Denver)* with Dan Chaon
- Writing the G-Rated RomCom TV Movie (Zoom) with Raeann Giles
Friday, June 17
Afternoon
- In These Fleeting Moments: Dramatic Tension in Your Story (Denver) with R. Alan Brooks
- Promptapalooza: The Most Fun You'll Have Doing Writing Exercises EVER (Denver) with Emily Rapp Black
- The Producing Partnership: Producers and Writers in Film and TV (Denver) with Will McCance
- Subversive Retellings (Zoom) with Addie Tsai
- Tapping the Subconscious (Where Beauty Resides) (Denver)* with William Haywood Henderson
Early Evening
- Meta that Matters (Denver)* with Jennifer Wortman
Saturday, June 18
Morning
- Muscle Memory: When Writing Goes on Autopilot and How We Can Jumpstart Our Writing (Denver) with Hillary Leftwich
- Unfortunately, This Piece Isn’t For Us: Dealing With Literary Rejection (Denver)* with Liz Breazeale
Afternoon
- Pandemic Lit (Zoom) with David J. Rothman
- Laughing for Change: Funny Stories with Serious Purpose (Denver)* with Jenny Shank
- Sounds + Visions: How We Work Together (Zoom) with Maw Shein Win
Early Evening
Business Panels
Business panels take place every day from 12:00pm-1:00pm
Friday, June 10
Saturday, June 11
Sunday, June 12
Monday, June 13
Tuesday, June 14
- Lunchtime Business Panel: Story of a Book (Denver) and on Zoom with Vauhini Vara
Wednesday, June 15
Thursday, June 16
Friday, June 17
Saturday, June 18
Sunday, June 19
Evening Events
Friday, June 10
- Happy Hour Reading: An Uncertain Age Anthology Reading, 4:30-5:30pm
- “Turn the Page” with Ryan Warner and Erika Krouse, 5:30-7:00pm
- The Kickoff Party, 7:00-8:30pm
Saturday, June 11
- Happy Hour Reading: Writing in Color, 4:30-5:30pm
- Lit Fest at Night Reading: Faculty, 7:30-8:30pm
Sunday, June 12
- Happy Hour Reading: Faculty, 4:30-5:30pm
- Inspiration Tour, 6:00-7:00pm
Monday, June 13
- Happy Hour Reading: Lit Fest Fellows, 4:30-5:30pm
Tuesday, June 14
- Happy Hour Reading: Book Project Edition, 4:30-5:30pm
- Lit Fest at Night Reading: Lighthouse Faculty, 7:30-8:30pm
Wednesday, June 15
- Happy Hour Reading: Book Project Edition, 4:30-5:30pm
- Denver Noir Reading, 7:30-8:30pm
Thursday, June 16
- Happy Hour Reading: Queer Creatives, 4:30-5:30pm
- 25th Anniversary Gala, 6:00pm
Friday, June 17
- Happy Hour Reading: Faculty, 4:30-5:30pm
- Salon: Art Friends—The Pleasures and Perils of Writers’ Groups, 6:00-7:00pm
- Lit Fest at Night: Faculty, 7:15-8:15pm
Saturday, June 18
- Happy Hour Reading: Poetry Collective, 4:30-5:30pm
- Closing Party + Chris Ransick Celebration/Reading, 6:00pm
Visiting Author Readings
Saturday, June 11
Monday, June 13
- Visiting Authors Reading and Conversation: P. Carl, Dan Chaon, Alissa Nutting, Nadia Owusu, Laura van den Berg, 6:00-7:15pm
Tuesday, June 14
- Visiting Authors Reading and Conversation: Dean Bakopoulos, Victoria Chang, Melissa Febos, Ed Hirsch, 6:00-7:00pm
