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Friday, May 23
 

9:00am MDT

Uncovering the Unspoken: A Generative Memoir Writing Workshop TICKETED
Friday May 23, 2025 9:00am - 10:00am MDT
2 King Room
In this generative writing workshop, we’ll tap into the transformative power of memoir.
We’ll explore how personal experience, imagination, and desire can shape meaningful narratives, while connecting to the collective moment. Through guided exercises, we’ll reflect on our vulnerabilities, complexities, and intuitions—both personal and shared. Together, we’ll dive into the challenge of expressing what often feels inexpressible. We’ll push boundaries, taking creative risks as we engage with difficult emotions and explore the messy, sometimes uncomfortable truths of our experiences.This workshop will encourage you to confront, tackle, and embrace the full spectrum of your story.
Speakers
avatar for Hillary Leftwich

Hillary Leftwich

Hillary Leftwich is a multi-media writer and the author of Ghosts Are Just Strangers Who Know How to Knock (Agape Editions, 2023), Aura (Future Tense Books, 2022), and Saint Dymphna’s Playbook (forthcoming from Limit Zero, 2025). She teaches creative writing, business writing, and... Read More →
Friday May 23, 2025 9:00am - 10:00am MDT
2 King Room
  Fiction, Workshop

10:15am MDT

Story Map Workshop Part 1 TICKETED
Friday May 23, 2025 10:15am - 11:15am MDT
2 King Room
Mapping Your Novel
Take your Pantsing and Planning to the next level and become a Mapper instead. In this two-part seminar, writing coaches Doug Kurtz and Dan Manzanares will introduce you to the Story Map, their breakthrough tool that helps novelists of all stripes and skill levels unlock the full potential of their books. Part 1, Orientation, is an introduction to the Story Map and how to use it, followed by an open Q&A session. Part 2, Implementation, is a hands-on workshop in which participants will explore the holistic landscape of Story that underlies craft and begin the Story Mapping process. Novelists in any genre, at any stage of the writing process are welcome.

Speakers
avatar for Dan Manzanares

Dan Manzanares

Dan Manzanares’ passion is helping novelists professionalize their writing process. The Story Map, a holistic storytelling model he co-created in a Costa Rican jungle, transforms writers to authors, people committed to connecting with readers. Working relationally, instead of structurally... Read More →
avatar for Doug Kurtz

Doug Kurtz

For nearly three decades Doug Kurtz has taught writers in every context from universities and nonprofits to international retreats and his own coaching business. He is the co-creator of the Story Map, a holistic methodology that helps novelists of all stripes and skill levels write... Read More →
Friday May 23, 2025 10:15am - 11:15am MDT
2 King Room
  Fiction, Workshop

12:30pm MDT

Story Map Workshop Part 2 TICKETED
Friday May 23, 2025 12:30pm - 1:30pm MDT
2 King Room
Mapping Your Novel
Take your Pantsing and Planning to the next level and become a Mapper instead. In this two-part seminar, writing coaches Doug Kurtz and Dan Manzanares will introduce you to the Story Map, their breakthrough tool that helps novelists of all stripes and skill levels unlock the full potential of their books. Part 1, Orientation, is an introduction to the Story Map and how to use it, followed by an open Q&A session. Part 2, Implementation, is a hands-on workshop in which participants will explore the holistic landscape of Story that underlies craft and begin the Story Mapping process. Novelists in any genre, at any stage of the writing process are welcome.

Speakers
avatar for Dan Manzanares

Dan Manzanares

Dan Manzanares’ passion is helping novelists professionalize their writing process. The Story Map, a holistic storytelling model he co-created in a Costa Rican jungle, transforms writers to authors, people committed to connecting with readers. Working relationally, instead of structurally... Read More →
avatar for Doug Kurtz

Doug Kurtz

For nearly three decades Doug Kurtz has taught writers in every context from universities and nonprofits to international retreats and his own coaching business. He is the co-creator of the Story Map, a holistic methodology that helps novelists of all stripes and skill levels write... Read More →
Friday May 23, 2025 12:30pm - 1:30pm MDT
2 King Room
  Fiction, Workshop

1:45pm MDT

Drafting the Novel with David Wroblewski and Shelley Read TICKETED
Friday May 23, 2025 1:45pm - 2:45pm MDT
2 King Room
Novelists David Wroblewski (Story of Edgar Sawtelle, Familiaris) and Shelley Read (Go As A River) discuss the deep work involved in drafting the novel. From character to plot, these veteran writers peer into the murky depths where fiction comes from.
Speakers
avatar for David Wroblewski

David Wroblewski

David Wroblewski is the author, most recently, of the novel Familiaris, a 2024 Oprah Book Club pick and follow-up to his internationally bestselling debut, The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, also an Oprah Book Club pick, and selected as one of the best books of the year by numerous magazines... Read More →
avatar for Shelley Read

Shelley Read

Shelley Read’s international bestselling debut novel, Go As A River, is translated into thirty-four languages and appears on bestseller lists worldwide. Winner of the 2024 High Plains Book Award for Fiction and the 2023 Reading the West Award for Best Debut, Go As A River is also... Read More →
Friday May 23, 2025 1:45pm - 2:45pm MDT
2 King Room
  Fiction, Workshop

3:00pm MDT

A Play in Two Hours Part 1 TICKETED
Friday May 23, 2025 3:00pm - 4:00pm MDT
2 King Room
Yes, you can write a complete, short play...in two hours! Acclaimed playwright, actor, and Western Colorado University Theater Director, Steven Cole Hughes guides you in the basics of playwriting, dialogue, history, and writing exercises.

Steven Cole Hughes is an award-winning playwright and Associate Professor of Theatre
at Western Colorado University. His full-length plays include: Indiana, The Bad Man
(2011 Denver Post Ovation Award for Special Achievement), Billy Hell (2008 Ovation
Award for Best New Work), Slabtown, cowboyily, and Battleground State. His plays for
young audiences are: The Presidents!, The Wright Stuff, and The Geography of
Adventure. His plays have been produced at the Bloomington Playwrights Project, the
Coterie Theatre, Creede Repertory Theatre, Curious Theatre Company and the Denver
Center for the Performing Arts. His short play A Brief History of Banned Books was
published in 2024 in an anthology called We Can See into Another Place: Mile High
Writers on Social Justice. He has a BA in theatre from Indiana University and an MFA
from the National Theatre Conservatory.
Speakers
avatar for Steven Cole Hughes

Steven Cole Hughes

Steven Cole Hughes is an award-winning playwright and Associate Professor of Theatre at Western Colorado University. His full-length plays include: Indiana, The Bad Man (2011 Denver Post Ovation Award for Special Achievement), Billy Hell (2008 Ovation Award for Best New Work), Slabtown... Read More →
Friday May 23, 2025 3:00pm - 4:00pm MDT
2 King Room
  Fiction, Workshop

4:15pm MDT

A Play in Two Hours Part 2 TICKETED
Friday May 23, 2025 4:15pm - 5:15pm MDT
2 King Room
Speakers
avatar for Steven Cole Hughes

Steven Cole Hughes

Steven Cole Hughes is an award-winning playwright and Associate Professor of Theatre at Western Colorado University. His full-length plays include: Indiana, The Bad Man (2011 Denver Post Ovation Award for Special Achievement), Billy Hell (2008 Ovation Award for Best New Work), Slabtown... Read More →
Friday May 23, 2025 4:15pm - 5:15pm MDT
2 King Room
  Fiction, Workshop
 
Mountain Words Festival
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