Mountain Words Festival: Full Schedule

10:15am MDT

Historical Fiction Panel TICKETED

Saturday May 24, 2025 10:15am - 11:15am MDT

Speakers

Ramona Ausubel

Ramona Ausubel’s fifth book, The Last Animal was a national bestseller, a Barnes & Noble book of the month and named a best book of 2023 by NPR, Kirkus and the Oprah quarterly. Her previous books are Awayland: stories, Sons and Daughters of Ease and Plenty, A Guide to Being Born... Read More →

Elizabeth Gonzalez James

Elizabeth Gonzalez James is the author of the novels Mona at Sea and The Bullet Swallower as well as the chapbook Five Conversations About Peter Sellers.

Karen Russell

Saturday May 24, 2025 10:15am - 11:15am MDT
2 King Room 606 6th St

Panel

11:30am MDT

The Obstacle is the Path: Lunch Conversation for Writers TICKETED

Saturday May 24, 2025 11:30am - 12:30pm MDT

5 Kinder-Padon Gallery

Where do you start as a writer? Is an MFA right for me? How do you publish a poem? What are the different paths to publication? Three writers are here to answer whatever questions you have about writing life and the many paths one can take. (Dan Manzanares, Suzi Q. Smith, Steven Dunn)

Speakers

Suzi Q. Smith

Steven C. Dunn

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 →

Saturday May 24, 2025 11:30am - 12:30pm MDT
5 Kinder-Padon Gallery

Panel, Free

1:00pm MDT

Wildlife Panel

Saturday May 24, 2025 1:00pm - 2:00pm MDT

2 King Room

Saturday May 24, 2025 1:00pm - 2:00pm MDT
2 King Room 606 6th St

Panel

2:15pm MDT

Creating Narrative Around the Personal TICKETED

Saturday May 24, 2025 2:15pm - 3:15pm MDT

3 Hawk Room

With Hillary Leftwich, Deborah Taffa, and Chris La Tray

Speakers

Chris La Tray

Chris La Tray is a Métis storyteller. His first book, One-Sentence Journal: Short Poems and Essays From the World At Large (2018, Riverfeet Press) won the 2018 Montana Book Award and a 2019 High Plains Book Award.His second book, a collection of haiku and haibun poetry called De... Read More →

Deborah Taffa

Deborah Taffa’s Whiskey Tender, a National Book Award Finalist 2024, as well as a longlisted title for the 2025 Carnegie Medal for Excellence, was named to the year’s best lists at Time Magazine, Esquire, Publisher’s Weekly, The Atlantic, Audible, Esquire, and other outlets... Read More →

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 →

Saturday May 24, 2025 2:15pm - 3:15pm MDT
3 Hawk Room 606 6th St

Panel

Mountain Words Festival

From $306.69