Below you'll find the complete guide to everything fiction at Lit Fest 2022, including craft seminars and readings from headliners Steve Almond, Dan Chaon, Percival Everett, Vaness Hua, Sandra Newman, Laura van den Berg, and Tiphanie Yanique. 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)
- Two-Weekend Intensive: Truth is Stranger than Fiction–A Generative Short Story Workshop (Zoom) with Sarah Elizabeth Schantz (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
- Real People, Real Problems (Denver)* with Erika Krouse
- Simplifying the Hero's Journey (Denver) with Lija Fisher
Afternoon
- The Book Proposal (Denver) with Erika Krouse
- Fiction Stuckshop (Denver) with Amanda Rea
- 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
- Perspective: Writing from the Inside Out (Denver)* with Amanda Rea
- Writing the Erotic (Denver) with Courtney E. Morgan
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
- Thinking Outside of the Narwhal: Revealing the Everyday Extraordinary in Prose (Denver)* with Alexander Lumans
Sunday, June 12
Morning
- 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
- Writing Engaging YA (Denver) with Olivia Chadha
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
- Writing the Body (Zoom) with Karen Auvinen
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
- The Magic of Metaphor in Prose (Denver) with Andrea Bobotis
- Mind F*ck (Denver)* with Melissa Febos
- 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
- Creatures of Impulse: What All Writers Can Learn from TV (Denver)* with Dean Bakopoulos
Tuesday, June 14
Morning
- Emotional Transitions (Denver) with Paula Younger
- Let’s Learn Writing from Translators (Zoom) with Poupeh Missaghi
- Online Privacy for Writers (Zoom) with Erika Krouse
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
- Graphic Prose: Comics and Prose Writing (Denver) with R. Alan Brooks
- Making Real Humans (Denver)* with Tiphanie Yanique
- Pronoun Play (Zoom) with Elizabeth Robinson
- Writing Detective Stories (Zoom) with Poupeh Missaghi
- Writing the Hard Stuff (Denver) with Erika Krouse
- Writing Wrongs (Zoom) with Ellen Blum Barish
Early Evening
- The Birth of Style (Denver) with John Cotter
- The Multi POV Novel (Denver) with Cynthia Swanson
- Right Where You Left Me: Making Literary Landscapes (Denver) with Alexander Lumans
- Witchcraft (Denver)* with Percival Everett
Wednesday, June 15
Morning
- Setting as Character (Denver)* with Erika Krouse
Afternoon
- Choose Your Words (Denver) with Erika Krouse
- Getting Emotional (Denver) with Tiffany Quay Tyson
- Object Lessons: An Exploration (Denver) with Laura van den Berg
- Prompt Party (Denver) with Joy Roulier Sawyer
- Rewriting the Classic (Zoom) with Chip Livingston
Early Evening
- The Art of Consciousness (Denver)* with Nadia Owusu
- Getting Published: Stories, Essays, Articles, and Books (Denver) with Jenny Shank
- Hauntings and Divinations: Writing the Haunted Past and Flickering Future (Zoom) with Hillary Leftwich
Thursday, June 16
Morning
- Plotting Effectively (Denver) with Rachel Weaver
- Strange and Uncanny: Fantastic Fiction (Zoom) with Trent Hudley
Afternoon
- Writing Rhyming Children’s Picture Books (Denver) with Todd Tuell
- 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
- The Chorus: The Power of "We" and First-Person Plural POV (Zoom) with Sarah Elizabeth Schantz
- Maintaining a Consistent Writing Practice (Denver) with Steven Dunn and Suzi Q. Smith
- Set Dressing: Observation, Detail, and the Uncanny (Denver)* with Dan Chaon
Friday, June 17
Morning
- Pitching and Writing for Mainstream Publications (Zoom) with Julie Vick
Afternoon
- Difficult Personas (Denver) with Teow Lim Goh
- In These Fleeting Moments: Dramatic Tension in Your Story (Denver) with R. Alan Brooks
- Performance Art and Writing (Denver) with Andrea Rexilius
- Promptapalooza: The Most Fun You'll Have Doing Writing Exercises EVER (Denver) with Emily Rapp Black
- Show Don't Tell: Privileging the Reader's Experience (Denver) with Sarah Elizabeth Schantz
- 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
- Poems as Teachers (Denver) with Lynn Wagner
Saturday, June 18
Morning
- An Intro to Speculative Poetry (Denver) with André O. Hoilette
- 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
- Me, Myself, and I: The Art of First Person (Denver) with Jennifer Wortman
- 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
