Lighthouse Writers Workshop is a literary nonprofit center in Denver since 1997. Our mission is to provide the highest caliber of artistic education, support, and community for writers and readers in the Rocky Mountain Region and beyond. We strive to ensure that literature maintains its proper prominence in the culture, and that individuals achieve their fullest potential as artists and human beings.

Applications for Young Authors Collective are open for 2024-25 school year from December 18, 2024 - January 24, 2025.
       The Young Authors Collective (YAC) is a group of high school writers who meet to engage in a literary community and write. YAC Denver meets weekly from 4:30 PM to 6:30 PM. YAC Online meets weekly from 5:00 to 7:00 PM MDT. 

YAC Denver meets weekly on Wednesdays in-person at Lighthouse Writers Workshop at 3844 York Street. The first meeting for Spring 2025 is January 22, 2025.
       Dates:

  • January 22, 29
  • February 5, 12, 19, 26
  • March 5, 12, 19 (we'll skip the 26, for DPS spring break)
  • April 2, 9, 16, 23, 30

YAC Online meets weekly on Thursdays via Zoom. The first meeting for Spring 2025 is January 13, 2024. 

      Dates:

  • January 23, 30
  • February 6, 13, 20, 27
  • March 6, 13, 20, 27
  • April 3, 19, 17, 24
     

YAC members must attend all meetings and respond to emails and/or text messages from the instructor and Lighthouse staff in a timely manner.
 

YAC is an ideal place to create long-lasting connections and develop as a writer. We’ll look to marginalized and traditionally underrepresented writers for examples and prompts as well as to expand our notion of the literary canon. Members of YAC build their skills across forms, including fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, and hybrid/experimental; by workshopping (giving and receiving feedback) on their pieces; and engaging in craft lessons. They are also expected to meet deadlines, contribute to the group blog, and set writing goals. YAC members may also participate in Lighthouse community-based projects, which can include collaborating with established adult writers, joining the editorial board for the And We  Created Worlds and community anthologies, gaining non-profit management experience, and teaching young writers at the Free Creative Writing Lab through the Young Writers Program.
      YAC Denver Instructor: Gary Garrison
      YAC Online Instructor: Jesaka Long

Tuition is $550 per semester; full and partial financial aid is available. (Apply to YAC first, and after you are accepted, you can request financial aid.) YAC members make a year-long commitment to the program, but can pay by semester!


Please take your time with this application. Answer the questions as fully and thoughtfully as possible.

$30.00

Lit Fest features weeklong and weekend advanced workshops in novel, short story, and hybrid genres. Participation is by application only. Weeklong workshops meet five times, Monday through Friday, 9:00 to 11:30 AM MDT and include a one-on-one meeting with the instructor. The weekend workshop meets twice, Saturday and Sunday, from 8:30 AM to 12:00 PM MDT or 1:30 PM to 5:00 PM MDT each day. All workshops are scheduled to be held in person in Denver.

Please use this form to apply for an advanced workshop in fiction with:

  • Steve Almond, Mat Johnson, Elizabeth McCracken, Helen Phillips, Douglas Stuart, Tony Tulathimutte (Monday–Friday, June 9–13)
  • Katie Kitamura (Saturday–Sunday, June 7–8)

Please remove all identifying information from your 10-page writing sample. You'll need to complete a separate application if you're applying for multiple workshops (which is not the same as listing alternate workshops if you don't get your first choice). Applicants for the Lit Fest Fellowship for Emerging Writers in fiction, Veterans Writing Award, and LARRK fellowship for writers with physical disabilities should also use this form. 

This year's judge for the emerging writer fellowship in fiction is novelist Megha Majumdar (A Burning).

Please see our website for the workshop descriptions and tuition information.

The priority deadline for applications is March 8. Applications after that date will be considered on a rolling basis, space permitting (all of the classes have filled in past years). No fellowship applications will be considered after March 8.

$30.00

Lit Fest features weeklong and weekend advanced workshops in memoir, narrative nonfiction, hybrid genres, and essay. Participation is by application only, and courses are limited to 10 participants each. Weeklong workshops meet five times, Monday through Friday, 9:00 to 11:30 AM MDT, after which there's time for one-on-one meetings with the instructor. Weekend workshops meet twice, Saturday and Sunday, from 8:30 AM to 12:00 PM each day. All workshops are scheduled to be held in person in Denver.

Please use this form to apply for an advanced workshop in nonfiction, memoir, or essay with:

  • Ingrid Rojas Contreras, Alex Marzano-Lesnevitch, and Eileen Myles (Monday–Friday, June 9–13). You're also welcome to indicate a preference for Elizabeth McCracken.
  • Nicole Chung and Claire Dederer (Saturday–Sunday, June 7–8)


Please remove all identifying information from your 10-page writing sample. You'll need to complete a separate application if you're applying for multiple workshops (which is not the same as listing alternate workshops if you don't get your first choice). Applicants for the Lit Fest Fellowship for Emerging Writers in Nonfiction, Veterans Writing Award, and LARRK Fellowship for Writers with Physical Disabilities should also use this form. 

The emerging writer fellowship for nonfiction will be judged this year by Mark Sundeen (Delusions + Grandeur,The Unsettlers, The Man Who Quit Money, The Making of Toro, and Car Camping). 

Please see our website for the workshop descriptions and tuition information.

The priority deadline for applications is March 8. Applications after that date will be considered on a rolling basis, space permitting (all of the classes have filled in past years). No fellowship applications will be accepted after March 8.

$30.00

Lit Fest features weeklong and weekend advanced workshops in poetry. Participation is by application only, and each class is limited to 12 poets (14 for a generative workshop). Weeklong workshops meet five times, Monday through Friday, 9:00 to 11:30 AM MDT,  and include a one-on-one meeting with the instructor. Weekend workshops meet twice, Saturday and Sunday, from 1:30 PM to 5:00 PM MDT. All workshops are scheduled to be held in person in Denver.

Please use this form to apply for an advanced workshop in poetry with:

  • Eduardo Corral (Monday–Friday, June 9–13)
  • Solmaz Sharif (Saturday–Sunday, June 7–8)
  • Matthew Zapruder (Sunday afternoon–Thursday morning, June 8–12)
  • You can also list Eileen Myles's poetry/nonfiction hybrid workshop (Monday–Friday, June 9–13), here

Please remove all identifying information from your 3-to-5-poem writing sample. You'll need to complete a separate application if you're applying for multiple workshops (which is not the same as listing alternate workshops if you don't get your first choice). Applicants for the Lit Fest Fellowship for Emerging Writers in Poetry, Veterans Writing Award, and LARRK Fellowship for Writers with Physical Disabilities should also use this form. 

This year's fellowship judge for emerging writers in poetry is Rowan Ricardo Phillips (The Ground, Heaven, Living Weapon, Silver, When Blackness Rhymes with Blackness, andThe Circuit: A Tennis Odyssey). 


Please see our website for the workshop descriptions and tuition information.

The priority deadline for applications is March 8. Applications after that date will be considered on a rolling basis, space permitting (all of the classes have filled in past years). No fellowship applications will be accepted after March 8.

Lighthouse Writers Workshop