Aspen Writers’ Network
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In keeping with Aspen Words’ commitment to working writers, AWN was formed to provide mutual support and networking opportunities for writers and aspiring writers in the Roaring Fork Valley and beyond.
AWN is geared towards writers seeking to take the next step in their writing and/or to further their professional careers. It also provides a networking group for encouragement, support, camaraderie and inspiration.
Our monthly, informal meetings provide an opportunity to connect with other writers to share work, writing tips and inspiration. Each quarter will feature exceptional writer-focused content to foster connections and bring stimulating programming to members. AWN members also enjoy priority access or reduced admission to other popular Aspen Words programs.
Thanks to general underwriting support for the program, AWN membership is just $150/year. Financial assistance is available if this annual membership fee presents a barrier to participation.
- Access to monthly, informal, AWN-exclusive meetings (typically on the third Thursday of the month).
- Access to quarterly AWN-exclusive events with a specific program and guest speaker.
- Access to the AWN Facebook group.
- Highly discounted rate for a one-day writing workshop hosted by Aspen Words annually
- 25% discount for all Winter Words author events
- Free admission to all Writer in Residence and Community Read events.
- Invitations to Aspen Words members-only receptions.
- Private consultations with literary agents and editors at the Summer Words conference in June 2024.
Events
AWN: Holiday Party
Past Events
2024 Fall Writing Workshop with Mary Robinette Kowal (Two Workshops in One)
AWN: Fairytales with Kim Bussing | Third Thursday in November
AWN: 45 Ways to Turn up the Tension with April Henry | Third Thursday October
AWN: Member Reading with Feedback
AWN: Summer soiree and open mic at the Village Smithy Restaurant
AWN: State of the Publishing Industry
AWN: Summer Soiree
AWN: Nisi Shawl teaches Writing the Other
Holiday Party & Book Exchange
An Evening with Adrienne Brodeur, Author of “Little Monsters”
Writing Workshop: Let the Writing Make the Rules – with Kate Milliken
Registration for this workshop is now closed, all available spots have been filled. Please reach out to Mallory.Kaufman@aspeninstitute.org to add your name to the waitlist.
WORKSHOP DETAILS When we talk about (and teach) creative writing we often speak in terms of the rules of craft. While it is important to have a knowledge of what has worked time and again to create compelling stories, in order to write a truly singular story you will need to move beyond convention. Often students of creative writing are so aware of how a story is supposed to be told that they fail to hear the wisdom that is already present in their own writing; its subtle whispers about how it wants to be told. In this one day intensive, through close readings of unconventional narratives, generative writing prompts, and an in-depth discussion of our own projects, we will deepen our understanding of the voice, the shape, and the themes that our work seeks to articulate. Whether you come to our meeting with just an idea of the story you want to tell or you have a full rough draft in your desk, our time together will embolden you to take the next step—from getting the first pages written to embarking on a needed revision—with a deeper connection to the material and a greater authority, moving you beyond crafting a story to making it your very own. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Kate Milliken is the Iowa Award winning author of the short story collection “If I’d Known You Were Coming” and the novel, “Kept Animals,” which was long listed for the 2020 First Novel Prize and hailed by the New York Times Book Review as a novel of “deft insights and gorgeous, sensual description.” Kate has written television and commercial advertising and taught on behalf of UCLA, the University of Michigan, and The Center for Fiction. Her work has appeared in O, the Oprah Magazine, the Santa Monica Review, Zyzzyva, and Fiction, among others and her work has been supported by Tin House, the Vermont Studio Center, Sewanee Writers Workshop, and the Ragdale Foundation. Kate is currently a freelance editor and writing coach and she lives with her family in the Midwest.Author Talk with Brittany Penner, August Writer in Residence
Summer Soiree
In-Person at Village Smithy (26 S 3rd St, Carbondale, CO)
Come together with fellow AWN members to celebrate the accomplishments of local writers and enjoy a summer evening. More details to come!
The State of the Publishing Industry – Part of the Summer Words Craft Panel Series
Purchase a pass for $30 to gain access to all events in the series.
Publishing experts will help you navigate the book business, give advice on how to get published, and discuss challenges and opportunities facing the industry today. Panelists: Millicent Bennett, Kirby Kim and Dana Murphy This event is free to summer words students! Your student badge serves as your pass. ABOUT THE SPEAKERS Millicent Bennett Millicent Bennett, Executive Editor, acquires primarily literary fiction, upmarket book club fiction, and voice-and character-driven narrative nonfiction, including memoir, with an emphasis on marginalized and underrepresented voices. She joined Harper in 2021 as part of the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt integration, where she served as editorial director, and after seventeen years as editor at PRH, S&S, and Hachette. Kirby Kim Kirby Kim, a native of Los Angeles, California, attended Pomona College and got his JD at UC Hastings College of the Law. Kirby has worked for Charlotte Sheedy Literary, Vigliano Associates, WME, and Janklow & Nesbit. He represents both literary and commercial authors. He’s most interested in receiving manuscripts that straddle the fence a bit, with upmarket expression combined with a genre element or plot device. When it comes to straight literary work, he’s alternatively drawn to rich, sweeping stories that try to encompass a time or a place or tightly written, narratively innovative stories or voices with award potential. His commercial interests include thrillers, mysteries, and speculative fiction. He also represents a range of nonfiction, working with leaders and journalists in the areas of science, culture, business, and current affairs. Some of his clients include award-winning science fiction writer Ted Chiang, Edgar Award winner James A. McLaughlin, Bloomberg Businessweek journalist Lauren Etter, rapper/actor Common, two-time National Book Award winner in the Philippines Gina Apostol, and debut novelists Ling Ling Huang and Adam White. Kirby is currently a board member of the Asian American Writers Workshop. He lives in Phoenix, Arizona, with his wife and two kids. Dana Murphy Dana Murphy represents a wide range of fiction and nonfiction for both adult and teen readers. She joined Trellis Literary Management in 2022, after a decade building her list at The Book Group. Books by her clients have been New York Times and international bestsellers and chosen as Barnes & Noble Discover, Book of the Month, Read with Jenna, Indie Next and NYT Editors’ Choice picks. Across genre, Dana falls in love at the story and line-level simultaneously. She’s always searching for language and plot that move in equal measure, and novels with a soft heart, a sense of humor, and a deep earnest affection for their characters and story. In non fiction, she loves well-researched cultural criticism — especially if it reckons with “low” and “unworthy” pop culture in a smart, serious way or interrogates the power structures that shape our collective understanding of “good” taste.Practice Your Pitch Workshop
In-Person at Bonfire Coffee Company (433 Main Street, Carbondale, CO 81623)
This is a great opportunity to practice talking about your work. Even if you are not ready to pitch your book/essay/poem to publishers/agents, developing a pitch is a great way to determine what is most important in your writing project, which helps you with editing and even finishing the work. Snacks, coffee, tea, beer, and wine will be provided.
This meeting is for AWN members only; interested writers are welcome to join at the meeting.
Member Readings
The How To’s of a Non-fiction Book Proposal
State of the Publishing Industry
Craft workshop with Rachel Weaver
A Conversation About Memoirs with authors Adrienne Brodeur and Courtney Maum
Courtney Maum is the author of five books, including the groundbreaking publishing guide "Before and After the Book Deal" and the memoir "The Year of the Horses," chosen by The Today Show as the best read for mental health awareness. A writing coach and educator, Courtney's mission is to help people hold on to the joy of art-making in a culture obsessed with turning artists into brands. You can sign up for her publishing tips newsletter and online masterclasses at CourtneyMaum.com
Adrienne Brodeur is the author of the memoir, “Wild Game,” which is in development for film. During her 15 years in the publishing industry, she founded the literary magazine “Zoetrope: All-Story” with filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola, was an acquiring editor at Harcourt and HMH Books, and served as a judge for the National Book Award, among other literary contests. Her essays have appeared in Glamour, O Magazine, The National, The New York Times, Vogue and other publications. She has been with Aspen Words since 2013. This meeting is for AWN members only; interested writers are welcome to join at the meeting. All attendees must upload their proof of vaccination in advance on the ReturnSafe app.Member Readings
Practice Your Pitch Workshop
AWN Member Reading
Workshop: The Magic of Sudden, Micro and Flash: Very Short Stories led by Pam Painter
ALL DAY SUNDAY, OCT. 23
Sunday, Oct. 23 @ 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. | Pam will be teaching the workshop in-person. Space is limited. AWN members receive a discount ($40 for AWN members; $90 for non-members). WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION: This workshop will explore the elements of stories under 750 words. To begin, we’ll discuss the concept of the unstable situation. Plot and conflict sit like boulders on these tiny stories although the tension in an unstable situation is the only drama necessary. And because first sentences are windows into worlds, we’ll write a lot of first sentences in a short amount of time. Next, we’ll experience the mystery and magic of prompts and how they arrive out of nowhere and immediately will conjure up six or seven new stories. Then we’ll discover how the words “what if” can lead to startling ways to continue and even complete a story. Finally, we’ll ride some of these new story beginnings to satisfying ends. The class will be fast-paced and exciting and most of all productive. I’ll send you home with a list of my favorite Flashanthologies and collections, places to submit your work, and inspiring quotes by writers to serve as future signposts. We have a whole day to write. A luxury. Let’s do it. All attendees must upload their proof of vaccination in advance on the ReturnSafe app.
In-Person at Pitkin County Library (120 N Mill St, Aspen)
Workshop: Writing Dialogue that Works led by Tiffany Tyson
Author Talk with July Writer in Residence Jamaica Baldwin
Craft workshop with Rachel Weaver
State of the Publishing Industry
In-Person Group Meeting: Writer Introductions and Optional Readings
Aspen High School Only – Heather Hansman in the Schools
Presentation by Author Rachel Weaver
The quarterly meetings in 2021, thus far, include a virtual self-publishing workshop; monthly Third Thursday meetings on Zoom; and one-on-one agent/editor meetings at Aspen Autumn words.
AWN – Third Thursdays Zoom Writing Meetups
Agent/Editor Consultations at Autumn Words
Practice Your Pitch
Self Publishing Zoom Workshop
The quarterly meetings in 2020 included a virtual revision focused workshop; access to the virtual “Life of a Book” Summer Words panel presented exclusively to AWN members and workshop students; as well as a two-day virtual personal essay workshop. Monthly community meetups (Third Thursdays) began in January in-person at Here House, Aspen and moved to Zoom in May.
AWN – Third Thursdays Zoom Writing Meetups
Personal Essay Workshop (Virtual Workshop)
The Life of a Book (Virtual Panel)
Writing is Rewriting (Virtual Workshop)
The quarterly meetings in 2019 included a writer-focused marketing talk; a session where members practiced pitching their book; and a one-on-one meeting with an agent or editor at Summer Words.
How to Write a Page-Turner: A Workshop for Fiction, Memoir + Narrative Nonfiction Writers
Agent/Editor Consultations at Summer Words
Practice Your Pitch
Quarterly meetings in 2018 included a writer-focused talk; a one-on-one meeting with an agent or editor at Summer Words; a fall writing workshop; and an opportunity for networking amongst local writers. Detailed event information will be available soon.
Publishing Talk with Novelist Amy Meyerson
Fiction Writing Workshop with Daryl Gregory
Agent/Editor Consultations at Summer Words
Spring Workshop: How to Write Great Dialogue
Thank You
Thank you to the 2024 steering committee: Mark Tompkins, Lisanne Rogers, Eme Cole, and Andrea Chacos. Thank you to our program sponsor Bonfire Coffee Company.