News from Castle Rock Writers  

One Yearly Conference
Writing That Resonates: A Celebration of Creativity & Craft

Photo by Operators Guild 

The 2025 Castle Rock Writers Conference will be held at The Lone Tree Hub. The in-person Conference will take place on Saturday, August 23, from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm. The conference kick-off event will take place via Zoom on Friday evening, August 22,
from 6:30 to 8:00 pm. 

This year’s conference schedule at a glance: 

6:30-8:00  Kick-off Event 
~ Connie Mableson will present a discussion titled ‘Writing About Real People,’ which will cover the intricacies of writing non-fiction and incorporating real-life elements into fiction.                        

9:00-9:30  Check-in

9:30-10:45  Session 1

~ Poetry: brice maiurro – Ecopoetics: Rewilding Our Relationship With The Earth

~ Fiction/Non-Fiction: Gemini Writer’s Studio – The Big Picture

10:45-11:00  Break                              

11:00-12:15  Session 2                           

~ Poetry: brice maiurro – Ecopoetics: Rewilding Our Relationship With The Earth (cont.)
~ Fiction/Non-Fiction: Gemini Writer’s Studio – Content Editing: Refining the Details

12:15-1:15  Lunch

1:15-2:15  Session 3                        

~ Panel (All Genres): Using Independent Presses for Publication  

Jill Smith, Director of Denver Publishing Institute,

James Stuart, Founding Editor of Twenty Bellows

 

 2:15-2:30  Break                              

2:30-3:45  Session 4                                  

~ Poetry: Marissa Forbes – Incorporating Personal History & Historical Research
~ Fiction/Non-Fiction: Gemini Writer’s Studio – Copy Editing: The Final Polish

3:45-4:00  Wrap Up

The Conference will also include a silent auction, lunch (pre-order), and door prizes. For more information about the Conference, please visit Castle Rock Writers – Serving the Front Range and Beyond!

Register for the Friday night event, the Saturday conference, or both at CRW Con 2025 

 

 

Manuscript Workshops will start on July 14 at 6:30 pm via Zoom. If you want to send five poems or up to ten pages of prose, send them to castlerockwriters@gmail.com by Saturday, July 12. Although not required of all participants, manuscripts will be forwarded to those participating by Sunday afternoon. After the discussion on Monday evening, we will ask participants to shred the manuscripts they received

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Please provide us with your first and last name and email address. We’ll send you the Zoom invite again on Sunday. We hope you can join us Monday evening. Don’t wait until your manuscript is perfect, they never are! Join in the fun and inspiration. Writing friends are the best kind of friends who celebrate excellence when they see it and support their fellow writers!

The CRW philosophy of feedback to writers is to catch writers doing something right…or even marvelous! Celebrating what works will inspire the writer to write more and aim for even more small successes. The group avoids general statements about the writer’s skills but applauds what is fresh and original in the manuscript. Suggestions can be made if a writer requests them at the beginning or the end of each discussion. The writer can also ask the readers questions.

 

 

Congratulations and Kudos from the President 

 

Congratulations to all the recently announced Colorado Author League (CAL) Award Finalists, including some of CRW’s past presenters and friends: Mary Taylor Young, Jerry Fabyanic, Todd Fahnestock, Kika Dorsey, Kathryn Winograd, Jolene Gutiérrez, and Anna-Maria Crum. And a special congratulations to Denny Dressman, who was selected as CAL’s 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award Winner.     

Kudos to Corinne Joy Brown, who co-wrote Escape to the Tatras with Oscar Sladek, a Holocaust survivor and folk musician. Sladek is married to a Denver native and lives in the area. He is 90 years old. Brown is a CRW Past Presenter and a member of the Denver Woman’s Press Club. The book is a top-selling book currently in the gift shop at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.

Kudos to the Denver Woman’s Press Club and their successful Open Mic Events. The next event is scheduled for Friday, July 18, at the DWPC Clubhouse, located at 1325 Logan Street in Denver. No RSVPs accepted: show up at 5:00 pm. The organizer, Buffy Gilfoil, will take the names of those who wish to read. The limit is 12 readers. Starting at 5:15 pm, each reader gets five minutes, so practice ahead of time. Doors lock and lights off at 7 pm sharp. Free to members and non-members, but donations are happily accepted.

 

Douglas County Libraries

The Book Rack

Poetry Society of Colorado

Gemini Writer’s Studio