Below, you'll find a complete guide to Lit Fest 2024, curated specifically for the poet or poetry curious. Choose intensives, seminars, and events á la carte, or sign up for one of our festival passes for the full experience. A note on class format: courses marked “Virtual” are held entirely via Zoom. All participants and the instructor will be attending virtually. 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.
*Strike-through workshops are sold out! For up-to-date info on what classes/events still have space, check out the Lit Fest Cheat Sheet '24.
Two-Day Intensives
June 13-14, 4:00-7:00 PM MST
TWO-DAY INTENSIVE: EXPERIMENTS IN POETIC FORM
Suzi Q. Smith
In this generative intensive, you'll examine the relationship between content, voice, and form by discussing the structural elements of poetry, such as rhythm, meter, metaphor, rhyme, and repetition.
Craft Seminars, Business Panels, and Evening Events
Friday, June 8
Morning Session (9:00 to 11:00 AM MST)
- TAPPING INTO YOUR WEIRDNESS (V) with Alexander Lumans
- TO MEANDER, SPIRAL, EXPLODE with Sarah Elizabeth Schantz
- COMMON BLINDSPOTS IN POETRY MANUSCRIPT DEVELOPMENT (AND HOW TO OVERCOME THEM) with Radha Marcum
Lunchtime Session (12:00-1:00 PM MST)
- LUNCHTIME BUSINESS PANEL: AGENTS 101 with Shana Kelly, Renèe Jarvis, Mira Landry, Paige Terlip, Rebecca Shaevitz
Afternoon Session (1:30 to 3:30 PM MST)
- POETIC VOICE: FINDING YOUR ZONE OF UNIQUE GENIUS with Radha Marcum
- THE POETRY OF PLAY with Joy Roulier Sawyer
Evening Session (7:00-8:15 PM MST)
- NEW FICTION SHOWCASE: OUR YESTERDAYS, TODAY with David Wroblewski (Familiaris), Wendy Chen (Their Divine Fires), and Joel Morris (All Our Yesterdays: a Novel of Lady MacBeth)
Saturday, June 9
Lunchtime Session (12:00-1:00 PM MST)
- LUNCHTIME BUSINESS PANEL: DEBUTS with Joel H. Morris, Christine Lai, Gina DeMillo Wagner, Minda Honey, Elizabeth DeMeo
Afternoon Session (1:30 to 3:30 PM MST)
- SHARPENING YOUR SENTENCES with John Cotter
- INDIGENOUS LANGUAGE IDENTITY AND THE POETIC VOICE with Crisosto Apache
Early Evening Session (4:00-6:00 PM MST)
- SWITCHING GEARS, JUMPING GENRES with Nazli Koca
- ON WRITING THROUGH THE LENS OF NOT, DON’T, NO, NEVER with Peter Markus
Evening Session (7:00-8:15 PM MST)
Sunday, June 10
Lunchtime Session (12:00-1:00 PM MST)
- LUNCHTIME BUSINESS PANEL: CONTESTS, RESIDENCIES, AND MORE—WAYS TO GET OUT THERE with Jenny Shank, Radha Marcum, Jenèe Skinner, Angie Chuang
Afternoon Session (1:30 to 3:30 PM MST)
- BIRTH OF STYLE with John Cotter
- LATTICE AS LADDER with Jane Hirschfield
- SUPERHERO POETICS (V) with Cynthia Manick
Monday, June 11
Lunchtime Session (12:00-1:00 PM MST)
- LUNCHTIME BUSINESS PANEL: SELLING YOUR BOOK—THE QUERY LETTER, ELEVATOR PITCH, AND MORE with Anna Qu, Sarah Gerard, Jan Thomas, Elissa Bassist, Abby Walters, and Marin Takikawa
Afternoon Session (1:30 to 3:30 PM MST)
- DOCUMENTARY POETICS: THE POETRY OF POLITICS, TESTIMONY, AND WITNESS with Wendy Chen
- POETRY FROM THE EARTH (V) with Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg
Early Evening Session (4:00-6:00 PM MST)
- POETRY AS ARTIVISM: A LOVE LANGUAGE FOR THE FUTURE (V) with Suzi Q. Smith
- THE ART OF DESCRIPTION with Mark Doty
Tuesday, June 12
Lunchtime Session (12:00-1:00 PM MST)
- LUNCHTIME BUSINESS PANEL: LITERARY JOURNALS—THE INSIDE SCOOP with Dino Enrique Piacentini (moderator), Angela Flores (Poetry), Jenny Wortman (Colorado Review), Allison Wright (Virginia Quarterly Review), Alexander Lumans (American Short Fiction/ Copper Nickel), Allison Wright
Afternoon Session (1:30 to 3:30 PM MST)
- NATURE WRITING with Amitava Kumar
- LONG NIGHT'S JOURNEY INTO DAY: WRITING ABOUT SERIOUS ILLNESS (V) with Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg
- CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN WOMEN POETS with Lynn Wagner
Early Evening Session (4:00/4:30-6:00 PM MST)
- GETTING TO THE FINISH LINE with Cynthia Swanson
- POETRY COLLECTIVE GRADUATION AND CELEBRATION
Evening Session (7:00-8:15 PM MST)
Wednesday, June 13
Morning Session (9:00 to 11:00 AM MST)
- HAIKU AS MINDFULNESS PRACTICE (V) with Ladane Nasseri
Lunchtime Session (12:00-1:00 PM MST)
- LUNCHTIME BUSINESS PANEL: STATE OF THE INDUSTRY with Shana Kelly, Dean Bakopoulos, Danielle Bukowski, Kayla Lightner, Amy Bishop-Wycisk, Allison Wright
Afternoon Session (1:30 to 3:30 PM MST)
- MEMORY FOG: GETTING LOST IN ORDER TO WRITE AND REMEMBER with Juan J. Morales
- THE ART OF SELF-PORTRAITS (V) with Cynthia Manick
Early Evening Session (4:00-6:00 PM MST)
- THE POEM'S END: A DISCUSSION with Rowan Ricardo Phillips
- THE POETIC LINE (V) with Suzi Q. Smith
Evening Session (7:00-8:15 PM MST)
Thursday, June 14
Lunchtime Session (12:00-1:00 PM MST)
Afternoon Session (1:30 to 3:30 PM MST)
- COLLAGING THE DRAFT with Nazli Koca (3 seats left)
- WRITING DESIRE AND SEXUALITY with Poupeh Missaghi (2 seats left)
- THE ART OF THE LINE BREAK (V) with Alyssa Knorr
Early Evening Session (4:00-6:00 PM MST)
- EXPERIMENTAL PROSE with Poupeh Missaghi
- WRITING WITH IMAGES (V) with Christine Lai
- JUST TWO POEMS with Lynn Wagner
Evening Session (7:00-8:15 PM MST)
Friday, June 15
Lunchtime Session (12:00-1:00 PM MST)
Afternoon Session (1:30 to 3:30 PM MST)
- COLLABORATIVE WRITING with Poupeh Missaghi
- EVOKING OUR HAUNTS: ON PERSONS, PLACES, AND FINDING VOICE with Hillary Leftwich (2 seats left)
- MINING MEMORIES (V) with Alyssa Knorr
