Lit Fest is an eight-day celebration of writers and readers, an extravaganza of weeklong and weekend advanced workshops, craft seminars, readings, salons, business panels, agent meetings, and parties. In 2023, Lit Fest will take place in Lighthouse's brand new, permanent building (with plenty of offerings for our virtual participants)!
Choose workshops and events à la carte or sign up for one of our festival passes for the full experience. Looking for a handy guide for classes with spaces still left? Look no further. You can find genre-specific guides to Lit Fest here.
Looking for books? Our official Lit Fest bookselling partner, The Bookies, has you covered.
Visiting Authors for 2023 included fiction writers Steve Almond, Jonathan Escoffery, Sheila Heti, Katie Kitamura, Rachel Kushner, Rebecca Makkai, Claire Messud, and Akhil Sharma; nonfiction writers Grace M. Cho, Andre Dubus III, Amitava Kumar, Leslie Jamison, Nadia Owusu, and Michelle Tea; and poets Forrest Gander, Carmen Giménez, and Patrica Smith; and novelist/screenwriter Dean Bakopoulos.
Fellowship judges included Victoria Chang (Poetry), Vanessa Hua (Fiction), Mitali Jahagirdar (TV/screenwriting), and Leslie Jamison (Nonfiction).
Visiting agents and editors include Lauren Abramo (Dystel, Goderich & Bourret), Amelia Atlas (CAA), Malaga Baldi (Baldi Agency), Maggie Cooper (Aevitas Creative Management), Kate Garrick (Salky Literary Management), Nora Gonzalez (The Gernert Company), Kirby Kim (Janklow & Nesbit), Kristin Nelson (Nelson Literary), and more. Lit Fest passholders have the option of meeting one-on-one with an agent during Lit Fest.
Have questions? Visit our Lit Fest FAQs or give us a call at 303.297.1185.
Lit Fest 2023 Supporters
Two-Day Intensives
Want to learn more about a specific element of craft? Dive into the work of a certain writer? Lit Fest two-day intensives offer participants the chance to spend time in focused study on a particular topic.
Craft Seminars
Lit Fest craft seminars give writers of all levels the chance to gain new insight into particular topics, techniques, or genres. Whether you’re interested in worldbuilding convincingly, creating compelling characters, or perfecting your story's dialogue, we’ve got a class for you.
Agent and Editor Consultations
Need publishing advice? Our Full-Access Business Pass (which is included in the Gold, Weekend Gold, and Bronze Passes) gets you a one-on-one consultation with Lit Fest's visiting literary agents and editors. Learn more below.
Fellowships
Our Lit Fest Fellowships for Emerging Writers help defray the costs of a weeklong or weekend advanced workshop for writers with financial need.
Business Panels
What's a "comp" title? How do you find an agent? How do you navigate first amendment issues when writing nonfiction? Our daily Business Panels provide the advice you need to master the publishing side of writing. Bring a lunch and join us, either in person or virtually.
Advanced Workshops
Lit Fest 2023 features weeklong and weekend advanced workshops in novel, poetry, short story, memoir, narrative nonfiction, and screenwriting. Visiting authors include: Steve Almond, Dean Bakopoulos, Grace M. Cho, Andre Dubus III, Jonathan Escoffery, Forrest Gander, Carmen Giménez, Sheila Heti, Leslie Jamison, Katie Kitamura, Amitava Kumar, Rachel Kushner, Rebecca Makkai, Claire Messud, Nadia Owusu, Akhil Sharma, Patricia Smith, and Michelle Tea. Participation is by application only. The priority deadline was March 11.
Evening Events
Stick around after class for our evening events, which include free community gatherings, happy hours, visiting author readings, and more.
Sponsor Lit Fest
Learn how to connect with our community and make an impact on the Lit Fest experience.
Festival Passes
For those looking for a fuller Lit Fest experience, passes provide a taste of everything on offer at discount.