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Monday, September 9​
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4:00p - 4:55p
Intro Mixer
Join to meet fellow attendees and collective ground as we prepare for
our journey through "Reclamation".
5:00p - 5:55p Publishing
How to Query Literary Agents at a Conference and Make a Great First Impression
Co-presented in Partnership with Latinx Kidlit Book Festival & Latinx Storytellers Conference
Panelists: Saritza Hernandez, Adriana Dominguez, Mayra Cuevas
Attendees will walk away knowing: Why should writers and illustrators attend a literary conference and sign up for a manuscript or portfolio consultation?, What should you expect from a 15 minute meeting with an agent?, How should attendees prepare for consultations?, Things attendees should avoid!, Tips for first timers who may be nervous pitching their work.
Session will include time to answer your questions!
6:00p - 6:55p Community
Black Writers Cohort Writing Meet-up
7:00p - 7:55p Community
Latinx/e Writers Cohort Writing Meet-up
Tuesday, September 10:
4:00p - 4:55p Community
LGBTQIA2S+ Writers Cohort Writing Meet-up
5:00p - 5:55p Publishing
How to Work with Bookstores for Children's Events
Panelists: Stephanie Seales, Angie Zhao, Lisa Moser - Moderator: Bunmi Ishola
Your new kidlit is out in the world and you're ready to connect with readers--time to call your local bookstore? Join this discussion to go behind the scenes with booksellers and prepare for the most successful collaborations. ​
6:00p - 6:55p Writing Craft
Personal Storytelling Rooted in Place
Panelists: KB Brookins, Neesha Powell-Ingabire, Jose Olivarez - Moderator: Jenna Nishimura
Join writers across writing genres for this panel expoloring how home and history inform truth, self, and intimacy in their writing. ​
7:00p - 7:55p - Community
Writing Against Settler-Colonial Frameworks
Panelists: Danny Caine, Asmaa Alatawna
Join writers exploring their own multitudes from Jewish and Palestinian backgrounds and the layers introduced into storytelling.
Wednesday, September 11:
4:00p - 4:55p Community
Sex Work Survival: Choreopoetry as Healing Practice
Presented by: Monica Prince
CW: This workshop focuses primarily on sexual trauma.
When people leave or are recovered from "the life" of sex work (whether they entered voluntarily or were forced into it), their survival and healing journeys vary based on their trauma history, cultural and identity background, and the support system that welcomes them home. One way survivors are processing healing is through writing poetry and pairing it with choreography. These choreopoems give attention to their struggles but also allow for catharsis when their story enters the dancers' bodies. Beautiful Feet Wellness (an anti-human trafficking organization that supports survivors through fitness and wellness) performs these choreopoems as part of their efforts to increase awareness and action for survivors of human trafficking, and in this workshop, facilitators Monica Prince and Jenny Footle (CEO and Founder of Beautiful Feet Wellness) will lead participants through mindful writing exercises related to trauma, recovery, and healing. Additionally, participants will have the chance to choreograph brief choreopoems to practice the embodiment needed to support true reengagement with one's body.
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5:00p - 5:55p - Writing Craft
Revising: A Creative Unraveling Journey
Roundtable Presented by: Monica Rodriguez
Writing is rewriting. How often do we hear this but dread it? Tackling a revision can be daunting and looks like an entirely different form of writer's block. Let's discuss how revising helps us unravel the best parts of our creative endeavors as well as share methods that work for us, to help each other gain a new perspective when it comes to revising a piece of work.
6:00p - 6:55p - Publishing
Library Acquisitions
Panelists: Alvina Ling, + more panelist information to come
Wondering about what information libraries have to help them find new titles? Join to learn more about nuts and bolts a books journey to a library.
Thursday, September 12:
4:00p - 4:55p Community
Indigenous Writers Cohort Writing Meet-up
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5:00p - 6:30p - Writing Craft
Collaborative Storytelling in Tabletop Role-Playing Games
​Presented by: Sydney Fowler & Joe Ponce
What can indie Tabletop Role-Playing Games (TTRPG) teach us about narrative value, respecting our readers, and navigating the treacherous chasm between conversation and conflict?
In this seminar, we will dip our toes into the world of indie TTRPGs and highlight the ways in which its improv-based narrative forms teach useful practices for collaborative storytelling across mediums. Participants will build a TTRPG player character using questions designed to create diverse, intersectional characters with powerful desires and individual ways of moving through the world.
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6:00-6:55p Publishing
New Pathways for Expanding Access and Discovery
The Black List: Fiction preview event
​Presented by: Franklin Leonard & Randy Winston
"The Black List has been an invaluable resource for writers and the entertainment industry since the release of our first annual survey of Hollywood's most-liked unproduced screenplays in 2005. Since then, we have nurtured written storytelling, empowered writers, and connected industry professionals with exceptional material on our online platform. Our mission has always been to increase access and visibility for writers and help industry members discover great writing, so it's a no-brainer that we would one day expand into the world of fiction. With this expansion, we hope to make fiction writing more visible and connect the film, television, and publishing industries with even more outstanding projects."
Join for this first preview of The Black List's expansion into Fiction!
Friday, September 13:
4:00p - 4:55p Community
Neurodiverse & Disabled Writers Cohort Writing Meet-up
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4:00p - 4:55p Writing Craft
What should I write about? A generative workshop for starting a creative project.
Workshop Presented by: May Zhee Lim
This workshop is for writers who know in their bones that they want to become an Author, to write that first or possibly second novel / memoir / work of creative nonfiction, but cannot seem to land on an idea for what they want to write about. Maybe you are worried about committing to one of your ideas for what feels like could be a long process or maybe you have trouble even coming up with these ideas in the first place. When you can write about anything and everything, the process feels daunting.
Two years ago, I quit my full-time job in book publishing to pursue writing a novel, even though I had no idea what I would write about. Even when I thought I had found that gem of an idea, I was still floundering. I'll share my experiences and learnings to aide you on your soul-searching journey. My hope is that you will leave energized and ready to jump into the writing process as your best, creative, generative self.
5:00p - 5:55p - Publishing
Setting a Baseline: Getting to Know Traditional Publishing​
Presented by: Bunmi Ishola
Want to know how a book travels through the editorial process, onto marketing, sales and beyond? Join Bunmi Ishola, editor at WaterBrook Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House to understand the nuts and bolts of the traditional publishing process.
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5:00 - 5:55p Community
AAPI Writers Cohort Writing Meet-up
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6:00p - 8:00p Community
Open Mic​
Saturday, September 14:
9:00a - 10:00a
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Community
Building Bridges with and for Our Stories​
Presented by: Cynthia Harmony, Mariana Llanos, Ana Siqueira
Join these three Latina authors as they discuss their most recent books ranging from humor to lyricism in picture books and chapter books. They will share excerpts of their books to show the breadth of styles, voices and approaches to sharing your culture and the importance of truthful and authentic diverse voices in children’s literature. In addition, this panel will discuss their joint initiatives in Latinx Pitch and Las Musas collective geared to bridge the gap of representation, while uplifting the Latinx community and their nuanced stories.
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Writing Craft
Literature of Absence: ÇaÄŸla Arıbal in Conversation with Aslı ErdoÄŸan
Presented by: ÇaÄŸla Arıbal & Aslı ErdoÄŸan
We have words for those who flee war, violence, and persecution, seeking refuge in another country. Yet, we lack a term for those who have lost their cities, the places they once called home. It is within this tension, this absence, this inexpressibility that Aslı ErdoÄŸan draws the stamina that fuels her literature. Her writing captures and senses absence, realized in the experience of inexpressibility and the acknowledgment of a failure—the failure of words to capture reality. Whether living in Geneva while researching the Higgs Boson at CERN, experiencing the bloodthirsty streets of Rio, living in the backstreets of Galata in Istanbul, or now in political exile in Berlin—these places represent not just a chronological wandering of the spirit but the point where literature finds its ultimate expression.
Publishing
Self-Publishing 101​
​Presented by: Erica Ridley
​This workshop is the lowdown on self-publishing, from publishing choices to design to business know-how. If you're planning a self-publishing journey, or if you've already started down the road but to refine your process join to walk away with an in-depth guide.
10:05 - 11:35a
Community
Translation Reading and Q&A
Presented by: paparouna & readers
Come and listen to marginalized translators read from their works (including from the source texts) and share some of their victories, inspirations, and struggles.
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Writing Craft
​Prosthetic Dreaming: How to Use ChatGPT, Meditation, and Surrealism to Unlock Your Creativity
Workshop Presented by: Henry Lien & Jerry Lee Davis
This workshop embraces AI as an art supply by recognizing that an artist’s contribution is not just to create something out of thin air, but to observe the startling connections between seemingly unconnected things that no one else has noticed. The workshop uses meditation and Surrealistic parlor games to bridge between ChatGPT’s sometimes spooky, sometimes hollow responses and your own subconscious.
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Publishing
Creative Marketing Strategies for Zines, Bookmaking, and Storytelling
Presented by: Lupita Aquino, May Zhee Lim
Have no ideas for marketing, or too many and don't know what's really worth the effort? Join this discussion to explore what has worked and what hasn't for two experienced pros getting eyes on a range of stories and publications. ​
11:35a - 12:30p
Break
12:30p 2:00p
Community
Supporting Trans+ Youth With Your Writing Practice
Presented by: Zephyr James
Learn about the urgent crisis facing trans+ youth in 2024, as well as the joy and resilience of trans+ community. Hear practical strategies for supporting the wellbeing of trans+ youth in your life, and participate in a public writing project aimed at supporting trans+ young people across the globe.
Writing Craft
Secrets of Deep Revisions: Break Your Manuscript Apart; Build Back Stronger
Workshop Presented by: Maya Prasad
You know that messy manuscript that makes you want to hide? The thought of revising it feels incredibly overwhelming. Take a deep breath—in this workshop, author Maya Prasad will share the secrets of structural revisions. It starts with breaking your manuscript apart into its essential components: characterization, worldbuilding, pacing, etc. We’ll discuss how to analyze the strengths and challenges of each, and how to bring them all back together into a compelling and soundly structured novel.
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Publishing
Ethics of Serving as and Working with Diversity Readers
Presented by: Britt Camacho, Melissa Yoon and Gionni Ponce. Moderated by Michelle Malonzo
In recent years there has been a rise of diversity or authenticity readers in publishing. But who are diversity readers and what is their role in the publishing ecosystem and the storytelling process? This session will discuss the pros and cons of working with diversity readers, why some authors choose it and others don't, the ethics involved, and what this means for writers and creatives across disciplines.
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2:00p- 2:45p
Closing
*All times Denver, CO MDT
Agent One-on-Ones will be held October 1-4, 2024. More information coming soon.
October 1-4
Agent One-on-Ones
Sign-up for a 10-minute one-on-one with:
Amanda Orozco (Transatlantic Agency)
Roma Panganiban ( Janklow & Nesbit Associates)
Noelle Falcis Math (Transatlantic Agency)
Eric Smith (P.S. Literary Agency)
Sam Hiyate (The Rights Factory)
Julia Kim (The Rights Factory)
Kaitlyn Sanchez (Bradford Literary Agency)
Sign-up information coming soon.
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