Crisosto Apache, Colorado’s Poet Laureate, presents:
Ecology and the Human Condition (Poetry: Session 1)
How do we—and the earth beneath us—endure the weight of history? Join this immersive workshop as we examine the resonant poetry of Simon J. Ortiz. Through dialogue and creative prompts, we will explore the profound intersection of the human condition and the landscape, ultimately crafting original poems that honor our survival and our ancestral connection to the land.
Bio: Crisosto Apache is from Mescalero, New Mexico, on the Mescalero Apache reservation, and is the 11th Colorado Poet Laureate, an award-winning poet, a three-time Pushcart Prize nominee, Montolvo Center Lucas Artist Fellow, and an Associate Professor of English and Creative Writing. Apache is the author of three poetry collections and advocates for the Two-spirit/Indigiqueer community.
Website: www.crisostoapache.com
Julie Cordova presents:
The Writer’s Quest (Prose for Experienced Writers Session 1)
Being a writer with the dream of publishing and selling enough books to make a living wage means being on a Hero’s Journey. How waking up to this simple writing template can transform your writing career, health, and productivity and improve your prose.
Bio: Colorado native and DU alum, Julie Cordova, is the author of the suspense novels The Other Side of the Rainbow and The Other End of the Lie. The Other Kind of Love is currently in production. She teaches a series of writing courses at the Tri-Arts Project in Castle Rock.
Website: www.juliecordova.com
Kirstin Weiss presents:
Working with Beat Sheets (Prose for Emerging Writers Session 1)
Discover the power of beat sheets for crafting compelling stories. In this hands-on workshop, we’ll explore story structure essentials, the evolution of modern beat sheets, when and how to adapt them, and genre-specific variations—perfect for emerging writers ready to level up their plotting skills.
Bio: Kirsten Weiss is a cozy mystery author with over 70 novels to her credit. Passionate about story structure, she loves empowering emerging writers to craft page-turning plots. Join her fun, hands-on workshop and discover how beat sheets can bring your stories to vibrant life!
Website: https://www.kirstenweiss.com/
Ashley Howell Bunn presents:
Bodies and Borders: Working with Boundaries in Ourselves and on the Page (Poetry Session 2)
Workshop Description: After generative writing surrounding somatic boundaries, participants will explore the use of boundaries on the page. These boundaries can serve a variety of purposes, such as fostering originality through limitation, creating a container to hold traumatic or complex emotions, and discovering new ways to work with form.
Bio: Ashley Howell Bunn (she/they) is a poet and educator from Denver, CO. Their chapbook, in coming light, was published by Middle Creek Press. Their full-length collection, burning, breaking, building was published by South Broadway Press in 2026. They are the Young Writers Program Manager at Lighthouse Writers Workshop.
Website: http://www.howellandheal.com
Anita Mumm presents:
It’s All in Your Point of View (Prose for Experienced Writers Session 2)
First person…second person…third person limited or omniscient? This workshop teaches experienced writers how to choose the best point of view for their project, examining the pros and cons of each and how to avoid pitfalls.
Bio: Anita Mumm is a Colorado writer and editor whose clients range from first-time novelists to New York Times bestsellers. Previously, she handled submissions and foreign rights at Nelson Literary Agency. She teaches
widely at conferences and retreats and is an adjunct professor in the Adams State University Prison Education Program.
Todd Fahnestock presents:
Resilience in Writing (Prose for Emerging Writers Session 2)
Stuck in writer’s block? Vacillating between drafting and editing? Wanna throw down and create a story on the fly? In this audience-interactive workshop, master storyteller Todd Fahnestock walks you through a microcosm of genre-choosing, character-building, plot-pontificating, and crazy merriment in an on-site example of how to move your story forward. Break barriers and gather useful tools to put your story on the page.
Bio: Todd Fahnestock is an award-winning, #1 bestselling author of edge-of-your-seat epic fantasy. He loves adventuring with his wife, occasionally counseling his adult, smarter-than-him children, and meeting readers who are passionate about great stories. Oh, and he loves to write. He’s lucky enough to spend his days doing just that.
Website: https://toddfahnestock.com/
Nancy Stohlman presents:
Creative Vision Casting and the Whole Writer Way: Reclaiming sustainable creativity in a culture of burnout. (Session 3 for all participants)
We live in a culture that profits on our exhaustion, commodifies our attention, worships productivity, and values us as consumers over citizens. We are so busy, yet most of us struggle to accomplish the things that matter most: The book stays unwritten. The stories remain unpublished. The good idea stays in our head. We might think if we had a different life, more money, more time it would be different. Or we imagine when we retire, the kids grow up, etc., then we will finally move towards our own vision.
Which means we spend our lives waiting for our lives to begin.
In this live strategy and creative coaching session, we will learn how to prioritize the creative work and get clear about what’s been in the way so we don’t spend our lives staying busy but not moving the needle on what really matters. We will go through a process of revisiting and re-orienting–not towards blatant productivity, but towards our deepest creative calling. This is an invitation to become an artist in your life, integrating craft, mindset, and sustainability while discovering more peace, joy and wonder in the process.
Bio: Nancy Stohlman is the award-winning author of six books including After the Rapture, Madam Velvet’s Cabaret of Oddities, The Vixen Scream and Other Bible Stories, and the flash fiction craft book Going Short: An Invitation to Flash Fiction. She has been named in the Next Generation Indie Book Awards, The Foreword Indies, The International Book Awards, Reader Views Book Awards and the Colorado Book Awards, and her stories have been anthologized widely, appearing in the Norton anthology New Micro: Exceptionally Short Fiction and The Best Small Fictions, as well as adapted for both stage and screen. In 2026, she was chosen as artist-in-residence at the historic Kerouac House Project in Orlando, Florida.
She has spent the last 20 years as a professor, mentor, and creative coach with a focus on creativity as a transformative journey that empowers the whole writer. In 2017 she co-founded Open Your Art Retreats and the Mastermind Writer’s Studio, and over the last two decades she has helped thousands of writers not only finish their books but re-imagine and reclaim their creative lives.
Website: www.nancystohlman.com