Lighthouse Writers Workshop: Recent Episodes
Lighthouse Writers
Listen to Lighthouse Young Writers Program Co-Director Kimberly O'Connor read "Early Pleistocene Horses" from her debut book of poems, "White Lung," out now from Saturnalia Press. Read more about Kimberly and her work here: https://www.lighthousewriters.org/blog/staff-spotlight-qa-kimberly-oconnor
You’ve got plans! So many different ideas and ambitious plans. How do you get your brain to move from poetry to prose, fiction to nonfiction, drama to social media posts? How do you have, you know—a life—in between? Listen to writers Elisa Gabbert, Peter Parnell, Khadijah Queen, and Erika T. Wurth discuss time management and planning, writing, and living a creative life of the mind.
Listen to new faculty member Sarah Gerard read from her novel, "True Love." To learn more about Sarah, her book recommendations, and what courses she's teaching, visit The Lookout: https://www.lighthousewriters.org/blog/new-faculty-spotlight-book-sarah-gerard
We’re living through dark times that require vigilance in the face of climate change, rampant poverty and homelessness, political strife, and so much more, so is art even necessary? How do we justify spending time making and consuming art when we should be at a protest or making money? What does art even do?
On a rainy evening in June (in Denver, anyway), authors Sheila Heti and Arianna Reines, artist Derrick Velasquez, and Museo de las Americas Executive Director Claudia Moran met over Zoom, along with moderator Mike Henry, Lighthouse's Executive Director, to discuss the place of art in 2020 and beyond.
Listen to new faculty member Traci Groff-Jones read from a new manuscript, "Ransom in the Captive." To learn more about Traci, her book recommendations, and what courses she's teaching, visit The Lookout: https://www.lighthousewriters.org/blog/new-faculty-spotlight-book-traci-groff-jones
Listen to new Lighthouse faculty member Alyse Knorr read some recent poems of hers. To learn more about Alyse, her recent book recommendations, and what courses she's teaching, visit The Lookout: https://www.lighthousewriters.org/blog/new-faculty-spotlight-book-alyse-knorr
Listen to new Lighthouse faculty member Mathangi Subramanian read from her novel, "A People's History of Heaven." To learn more about Mathangi, her recent book recommendations, and what courses she's teaching, visit The Lookout: https://www.lighthousewriters.org/blog/new-faculty-spotlight-book-mathangi-subramanian
Listen to 2020 Lit Fest Nonfiction Fellowship Runner-Up Ilse Josepha Lazaroms read a short excerpt from her memoir-in-progress, "Duets." Ilse also participated in a short Q&A, which you can read here: https://www.lighthousewriters.org/blog/qa-ilse-josepha-lazaroms
Listen to Book Project graduate Theodore McCombs read his short piece, "Ora et Labora," a story he developed at a Lighthouse workshop with Emily Sinclair. To learn more about Theodore and the Book Project, visit The Lookout: https://www.lighthousewriters.org/blog/qa-book-project-grad-ted-mccombs
Listen to new Lighthouse faculty member Evelyn Hampton read her short piece, "Pearl, My Mother," from her recently published short fiction collection, "Famous Children and Famished Adults." To learn more about Evelyn, her book recommendations, and which courses she's teaching, visit The Lookout: https://www.lighthousewriters.org/blog/new-faculty-spotlight-book-evelyn-hampton
Listen to new Lighthouse faculty member Liz Breazeale read her short piece, "Hysteria," first published in The Rupture (formerly The Collagist). To learn more about Liz, her book recommendations, and which courses she's teaching, visit The Lookout: https://www.lighthousewriters.org/blog/new-faculty-spotlight-book-liz-breazeale
Listen to new Book Project Mentor Vauhini Vara read from her recent New York Times piece, "My Decade In Google Searches." To learn more about Vara and the Book Project, read her Q&A with recent graduate Kate Christensen here: https://www.lighthousewriters.org/blog/qa-new-book-project-mentor-vauhini-vara
After some cool, rainy nights, the Visiting Authors Reading (week one) came with sunshine, laughs, and fine performances from Sheila Heti, Helen Macdonald, Donald Margulies, Melissa Febos, Ross Gay, and Rachel Cusk.
On Wednesday, November 6, this fall's Big Read program culminated in an on-stage reading and interview with Julia Alvarez and Kali Fajardo-Anstine for Inside the Writer's Studio, co-presented by the Newman Center for the Performing Arts. Preceded by a performance by Colorado Poet Laureate Bobby LeFebre, the two authors read from their award-winning works, discussed their artistic processes, and answered audience questions live on-stage.
*Note: Due to copyright restrictions, the podcast does not include Julia Alvarez reading from "In the Time of the Butterflies."
Listen to Twanna LaTrice Hill read an excerpt from her memoir-in-progress, "Diamonds In Her Teeth."
Listen to Jennifer Wortman read from her short story collection, "This. This. This. Is. Love. Love. Love."
On September 21, Lighthouse welcomed back former Denver Poet Laureate and Beacon Award for Excellence in Teaching instructor Chris Ransick for a book release and homecoming celebration. Chris read from his latest collection of poems, "Mummer Prisoner Scavenger Thief," as well as from his numerous other books. Prior to the reading, we recorded a number of Chris's friends and former students reading their favorite poems of his; their recordings precede Chris's reading on this podcast.
On Friday, August 9, Lighthouse hosted acclaimed memoirists and novelists Michelle Tea (author of over a dozen books, including "Against Memoir") and Esmé Weijun Wang (author of "The Collected Schizophrenias") at the Ricketson Auditorium at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science for Inside the Writer's Studio. The two authors read from their award-winning works, discussed their artistic processes, and answered audience questions live on-stage.
Lighthouse welcomed 2019 Fort Lyon resident writers Michael Fischer and Sarah Shotland for a reading and audience Q&A, where they read some of their own work, some Fort Lyon residents' work, and discussed the residency and their experiences. You can learn more about the Fort Lyon Writer-in-Residence program at lighthousewriters.org/fort-lyon.
*Content warning: this episode contains depictions of violence, abuse, sexual assault, substance abuse, self-harm, and suicide that some listeners may find disturbing.
On a stormy afternoon under the Lit Fest tent, we recorded Veterans Writing Award Special Mention Ryan Lanham and Veterans Writing Award winner Nathaniel Blaesing read short selections of their work.
Ryan read Clearing Instructions for the M-4 Series Weapon. Nathaniel read a piece called Afterword and a short piece titled Building A Nest.
Read more about this year's Lit Fest Fellows here: https://www.lighthousewriters.org/content/lit-fest-fellows-archive
On March 19, we hosted Kevin Young, author of "Bunk: The Rise of Hoaxes, Humbug, Plagiarists, Phonies, Post-Facts," at the Mary Harris Auditorium at Rocky Mountain School of Art + Design for Inside the Writer's Studio. Young read from his work and then joined journalist Tina Griego on stage for a conversation about the intersection of fact, fiction, and art, followed by an audience Q&A.
Lighthouse Event Podcast - Kali Fajardo Anstine Interview and Book Launch by Lighthouse Writers
On July 28, we hosted Carmen Maria Machado, author of Her Body and Other Parties, at the Holiday Theater at Highlands Church for Inside the Writer's Studio. The Shirley Jackson Award-winning author read from her work and then joined Alexander Lumans on stage for a conversation about writing, followed by an audience Q&A.
A wonderful, moving reading by: Akhil Sharma Jennifer Haigh Daniel Goldfarb Andre Dubus III Ada Limon
Lit Fest 2013 Salon: The Contagious Art: Writers Who Paved Our Way by Lighthouse Writers
Inside the Writer's Studio: On-stage Interview and Reading with George Saunders by Lighthouse Writers
Scribulators' Guild, a Nonfiction Salon, with special guest Helen Thorpe by Lighthouse Writers
Lit Fest 2013 Salon: The Scent of a Woman’s Ink: The Question of Gender Bias in Publishing by Lighthouse Writers
Lit Fest 2013 Salon: 20/20 Hindsight: What We Wish We’d Known About Writing by Lighthouse Writers
Alice Maxine Bowie Fellowship Writers Buzz Featuring Courtney Zenner by Lighthouse Writers
Writer's Buzz: Alice Maxine Bowie Fellowship Reading with Kim O'Connor by Lighthouse Writers
Football Brawl: A Spirited Conversation w/ Steve Almond & Justin Adams by Lighthouse Writers
Inside the Writer's Studio: On Stage Interview and Reading with Kazuo Ishiguro by Lighthouse Writers
Lit Fest Salon: Au Naturel—Finding the Provocative, the Deep, the Wild, in Writing About Nature by Lighthouse Writers
Lit Fest Salon: You Can’t Handle the Truth! Fiction vs. Nonfiction Smack-Down by Lighthouse Writers
Lit Fest Salon: Kidding or Not—The Question of Parenting, Family, and Art by Lighthouse Writers
Lit Fest 2015 Salon, Please, Sir, I Want Some More: On Failure and Rejection by Lighthouse Writers
Lit Fest Salon: Let's Talk About Sex! Literature, Erotica, or Just Plain Porn? by Lighthouse Writers
Lit Fest 2015 Salon, Get Lost! On Bewilderment as Poetics and Practice by Lighthouse Writers