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DTSTART;TZID=America/Denver:20250401T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Denver:20250401T193000
DTSTAMP:20260426T150843
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SUMMARY:April Writer's Night - Stages: Adapting Your Ideas to the Stage and Screen with David Kenworthy
DESCRIPTION:Have you wanted to turn your work into a play or screenplay? Do you have ideas for a script? Then this workshop is for you!  \nLocal director and writer David Kenworthy will be leading a workshop for the WCWF to create an original play or screenplay on Tuesday\, April 1st. He will be basing the session on the book The 90-Day Play by Linda Walsh Jenkins\, which is used in playwriting classes all over the country. With brainstorming sessions\, writing prompts\, and industry tips and tricks\, we hope you are on your way to writing your own play by the end of the session. Don’t be an April fool. Join us on April 1st!  \nAll Writer’s Nights are held at The Art Center in Grand Junction\, CO. \nSpeaker Bio \nDavid Kenworthy has been performing\, producing\, writing\, and directing theatre in the Grand Valley for over 20 years. After studying musical theatre at Ball State University\, he worked at theaters along the East Coast\, including the Southern Appalachian Repertory Theatre\, the Wohlfahrt Haus Dinner Theatre\, and the national touring children’s theatre\, the Hampstead Players. In 2002\, David moved west to work at the Cabaret Dinner Theatre\, where he put down roots by creating his two favorite productions\, his sons William and Alexander.  \nHe has appeared in over 90 productions\, including The Scarecrow in Wizard of Oz\, Billy Flynn in Chicago\, Epstein in Biloxi Blues\, and Hysterium in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. After the Cabaret closed in 2010\, he became the artistic director for the Lost Theatre Troupe\, producing several shows for the Museums of West at the Avalon Theatre. He completed his AA in theatre at Colorado Mesa University and is now the Executive Theatre Director for Geek Parties of the Grand Valley. David thanks everyone for supporting him through his artistic journey. \nCheck our Events page for upcoming happenings for writers\, and read our monthly newsletters here.
URL:https://westerncoloradowriters.org/event/april-writers-night-3/
LOCATION:The Art Center\, 1803 N. 7th Street\, Grand Junction\, CO\, 81501\, United States
CATEGORIES:Writer's Nights
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Denver:20250506T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Denver:20250506T193000
DTSTAMP:20260426T150843
CREATED:20241227T210455Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250402T202707Z
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SUMMARY:May Writer's Night - The Plot Thickens:  Writing\, Teaching\, and Publishing Mystery Fiction with Lyn Fraser
DESCRIPTION:The May Writer’s Night session will focus on mystery fiction but will also include a broader discussion of the importance of perseverance and variety\, which impact all of us who write and publish. My own publications include short mystery stories\, the most recent of which began as a novel-in-a-month; it has taken me four years to turn this work into a publishable story. I have been greatly fortunate to be self-supporting as a writer in part because my work includes a Pearson textbook that seems totally unrelated to mystery fiction\, but I believe it fundamentally relies on the same kind of creative energy. I look forward with considerable enthusiasm to your comments\, questions\, and perspectives about these issues. \n  \nSpeaker Bio\n \nLyn Fraser teaches a course in Crime Fiction for New Dimensions and has also been a faculty member at Texas A&M University and Colorado Mesa University. Her publications include a mystery novel (DEBITS AND CREDITS)\, two books on the psalms\, a business textbook (Pearson\, 12th edition 2023)\, short fiction in the AMERICAN LITERARY REVIEW\, the MID-AMERICAN REVIEW\, MYSTERICAL-E\, and two stories in anthologies published by the Murderous Ink Press (“Cosy Nostra” and “Chicka-Chicka Boomba”). An avid reader of mysteries\, Lyn started with Nancy Drew when she was nine years old and has never stopped the clock. \n  \nAll Writer’s Nights are the first Tuesday of the month at the Art Center in Grand Junction. \nCheck out our Events section to see what’s coming up!
URL:https://westerncoloradowriters.org/event/may-writers-night-2/
LOCATION:The Art Center\, 1803 N. 7th Street\, Grand Junction\, CO\, 81501\, United States
CATEGORIES:Writer's Nights
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Denver:20250603T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Denver:20250603T193000
DTSTAMP:20260426T150843
CREATED:20250508T181027Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250513T154233Z
UID:4230-1748973600-1748979000@westerncoloradowriters.org
SUMMARY:June Writer’s Night - ChatGPT as a Tool for Writers: An Honest Conversation and Workshop with Kate Beagle
DESCRIPTION:In this era of rapidly developing artificial intelligence\, creatives across the world are sounding the alarm. Screenwriters\, copywriters\, journalists\, poets\, and novelists are all watching a familiar story unfold: a world that already undervalues their labor is racing to replace it with something cheaper\, faster\, and altogether less human. \nLike so many technological shifts before it\, the ringing of the AI bell cannot be unrung. That leaves those of us doing the deeply human work of writing with a choice: resist or adapt. \nYet\, perhaps\, there is a third path that will allow us to engage with this new technology critically and creatively. \nJoin us for an honest\, writer-centered conversation about ChatGPT as an instrument we may choose to use with care\, to fine-tune our own unique vision\, rather than as a replacement for the creative process. \nTogether\, let us explore what this technology can do: spark ideas\, assist with structure\, untangle messy drafts\, and provide invaluable (if somewhat dubious) research assistance. And we’ll discuss just as candidly what ChatGPT and similar AI assistants cannot do: capture lived experience\, create emotional truth\, or tell your unique and authentic story. \n  \nSpeaker Bio\nKate Beagle is a Grand Junction native\, small business owner\, and lifelong creative. As the owner\, bookkeeper\, and office manager of HBJ’s Your Way Grooming\, she spends her days caring for the community’s beloved four-legged companions. But at heart\, Kate has always been a storyteller. A passionate reader\, writer\, and world-builder\, she tentatively describes herself as a speculative fiction author and proudly serves as Treasurer of the Western Colorado Writers’ Forum\, where she’s eager to connect with other lovers of “weird fiction” across the Grand Valley. \nKate’s experience with artificial intelligence—like many of us at the dawn of this new technological era—has been largely self-guided. She’s explored ChatGPT as a creative tool in her own writing practice and is now excited to open a broader\, deeper conversation among her fellow writers about what this technology might mean in a world that too often seeks to turn creativity into a commodity.
URL:https://westerncoloradowriters.org/event/june-writers-night-chatgpt/
LOCATION:The Art Center\, 1803 N. 7th Street\, Grand Junction\, CO\, 81501\, United States
CATEGORIES:Writer's Nights
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Denver:20250701T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Denver:20250701T193000
DTSTAMP:20260426T150843
CREATED:20250313T155340Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250505T152744Z
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SUMMARY:July Writer's Night - Write Matters: A Session with Bob Silbernagel
DESCRIPTION:For our July Writer’s Night\, Bob Silbernagel will discuss what he’s learned during his long writing career: when he started writing\, why he writes\, how he learned to write better and love good editors\, and the methods he uses to write. He will also speak more generally about the publishing industry\, including trends with book publishing newspapers. He will offer his ideas on improving writing and will answer questions. \n  \nAll Writer’s Nights are held at The Art Center in Grand Junction\, near 7th and Orchard\, on the first Tuesday of the month from 6-7:30 p.m. \n  \nSpeaker Bio\nBob Silbernagel writes a regional history column for The Daily Sentinel in Grand Junction. His most recent book\, First Draft: Exploring the History of Western Colorado and Eastern Utah\, is a collection of 40 of those columns\, published in 2023. \nIn addition\, he is the author of The Cadottes: A Fur Trade Family on Lake Superior; Troubled Trails: The Meeker Affair and the Expulsion of Utes from Colorado; and Historic Adventures on The Colorado Plateau. \nMr. Silbernagel was the editorial page editor for The Daily Sentinel newspaper in Grand Junction for 19 years. When not writing\, he enjoys horseback riding\, hiking\, and camping. \nHe and his wife\, Judy\, live near Palisade\, Colorado. \nCheck out the Western Colorado Writers’ Forum Events section to discover what’s happening next!
URL:https://westerncoloradowriters.org/event/july-writers-night/
LOCATION:The Art Center\, 1803 N. 7th Street\, Grand Junction\, CO\, 81501\, United States
CATEGORIES:Writer's Nights
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Denver:20250805T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Denver:20250805T193000
DTSTAMP:20260426T150843
CREATED:20250628T201406Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250630T010012Z
UID:4357-1754416800-1754422200@westerncoloradowriters.org
SUMMARY:August Writer's Night - From the Trenches: The Process of Querying Your Debut with Paige Kaptuch
DESCRIPTION:Have you ever tried to find an agent? Maybe you are in the thinking stages right now\, or have only just begun to write your book. Perhaps you’re wondering\, “What the heck is querying\, and do I really need to do that?” \n  \nOur August Writer’s Night presenter Paige Kaptuch will discuss her own ongoing journey to publishing her debut novel and will share her research\, resources\, and tips — including the process of finding an agent. \n  \nSpeaker Bio\n \nPaige Kaptuch has an MFA in fiction from the University of Arizona and was named a 2025 Tennessee Williams Fiction Scholar at the Sewanee Writers Conference. Her work has been selected as a Longreads Top 5 and nominated for a Best Small Fictions\, and has appeared in Runner’s World/Apple News Narrated\, Spoke and Blossom\, Swamp Pink\, The Forge\, Epiphany\, Masters Review\, Door is a Jar\, and Hayden’s Ferry Review. She’s been awarded funded writing residencies at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts\, Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts\, Wildacres\, Foundation House\, PLAYA Summer Lake\, Volland\, Jentel\, and Vermont Studio Center. Her career has involved teaching both undergraduate and college prep students\, as well as working in the run specialty/OR industry. She lives with her family in Grand Junction.
URL:https://westerncoloradowriters.org/event/august-writers-night-2025/
LOCATION:The Art Center\, 1803 N. 7th Street\, Grand Junction\, CO\, 81501\, United States
CATEGORIES:Writer's Nights
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Denver:20250902T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Denver:20250902T193000
DTSTAMP:20260426T150843
CREATED:20250811T200431Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250817T202051Z
UID:4439-1756836000-1756841400@westerncoloradowriters.org
SUMMARY:Conventions\, Conferences and Critique Groups: How to Get the Most from Them with James Van Pelt
DESCRIPTION:September Writer’s Night\n  \nYou know the best practice to improve your writing is to write. Don’t forget that. \nBut there are other ways to help\, to jump-start your thinking\, to skip the steps that if you had to take them on your own could take months and months: conventions\, conferences\, and critique groups. \nLong-time teacher\, conventioneer\, and critique group leader James Van Pelt will talk about strategies to get the most from your participation at each\, and offer resources to find the valuable ones. \nIf you’ve attended any of these useful activities and are willing to share\, be ready with your best (or worst) moments in your experience. \nPlease note:  All Writer’s Nights are on the first Tuesday of the month and are held at The Art Center near 7th and Orchard in Grand Junction\, Colorado. \nSpeaker Bio\nJames Van Pelt has been selling short fiction to many of the major venues since 1989. Recently he retired from teaching high school English after thirty-seven years in the classroom. He has been a finalist for the Nebula\, the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award\, Locus Awards\, and Analog and Asimov’s Reader’s Choice awards. Years and years ago\, he was a finalist for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. He still feels “new.” Fairwood Press recently released a huge\, limited-edition\, signed\, and numbered collection of his work\, THE BEST OF JAMES VAN PELT. He can be found online at his website or on Facebook.
URL:https://westerncoloradowriters.org/event/conventions-conferences-and-critique-groups-how-to-get-the-most-from-them/
LOCATION:The Art Center\, 1803 N. 7th Street\, Grand Junction\, CO\, 81501\, United States
CATEGORIES:Writer's Nights
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Denver:20251007T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Denver:20251007T193000
DTSTAMP:20260426T150843
CREATED:20250514T221307Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250520T000055Z
UID:4252-1759860000-1759865400@westerncoloradowriters.org
SUMMARY:October Writer's Night - Getting Your Book on the Library Shelf with Mesa County Libraries
DESCRIPTION:For our October Writer’s Night\, learn the library’s process for getting local authors’ titles on the shelves and setting up book signings. This writer’s night will also cover other ways the library supports writers. If there’s time\, the presenters may read selections from local authors’ books that are in the library collection. \n  \nSpeaker Bios\nMichelle Boisvenue-Fox\, the Executive Director at Mesa County Libraries\, works to build community through partnerships\, programs\, and events. Michelle believes that people are the most important thing to a library. As a result\, libraries change lives in big and small ways. Michelle holds a Master’s degree in Library and Information Science from the University of Illinois and has more than 20 years of public and academic library experience. \n  \nLisa Solko\, Head of Collection Management at Mesa County Libraries\, oversees the collection and deselection of library material at eight library locations as well as electronic books and audiobooks. She holds a Master’s in Library and Information Science from the University of Wisconsin\, and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Art History and Studio Art from Colorado Mesa University. Lisa enjoys using insights derived from data and research to attain harmonic results that reflect community\, originality\, and variety.
URL:https://westerncoloradowriters.org/event/october-writers-night-getting-your-book-on-the-library-shelf-with-mesa-county-libraries/
LOCATION:The Art Center\, 1803 N. 7th Street\, Grand Junction\, CO\, 81501\, United States
CATEGORIES:Writer's Nights
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Denver:20251202T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Denver:20251202T193000
DTSTAMP:20260426T150843
CREATED:20251101T164227Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251101T164227Z
UID:4551-1764698400-1764703800@westerncoloradowriters.org
SUMMARY:December Writer’s Night: Annual Spoken Word Open Mic Event
DESCRIPTION:Our annual Open Mic Night is Tuesday\, December 2\, 2025\, from 6-7:30 pm at the Art Center in Grand Junction. Bring your short works and poetry and take the mic! This is a spoken word event. \nOur total time is an hour-and-a-half. Every year we have many readers\, so keeping a time limit allows everyone to have a chance at the mic. We will have a timekeeper again this year\, and our max time limit is 6 minutes\, so please plan accordingly. \nA 30-line poem takes about 2 minutes to read\, and a 700-word story takes about 5 minutes. If we can do more than one round\, we will. \nWe appreciate RSVPs for seat-planning purposes\, and please note that readers will sign up on-site. Doors open 15 minutes early to allow for this.
URL:https://westerncoloradowriters.org/event/december-writers-night-2025/
LOCATION:The Art Center\, 1803 N. 7th Street\, Grand Junction\, CO\, 81501\, United States
CATEGORIES:Open Mic,Writer's Nights
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Denver:20260407T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Denver:20260407T193000
DTSTAMP:20260426T150843
CREATED:20260225T024619Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260310T034802Z
UID:4805-1775584800-1775590200@westerncoloradowriters.org
SUMMARY:April Writer's Night - Marketing for Authors: Your Foundation and Beyond with Sherry D. Ficklin
DESCRIPTION:This presentation will cover the basics of building your author marketing strategy\, including identifying\, locating\, and engaging your audience\, as well as social media breakdowns and tips. Marketing by genre is about shifting focus from selling a single book to cultivating trust and recognition with a specific audience in order to strengthen your overall business. \nPlease join the WCWF on Tuesday\, April 7\, 2026\, from 6-7:30 pm at The Art Center in Grand Junction\, 7th and Orchard. \nSpeaker Bio\nSherry D. Ficklin is a full-time author from Western Colorado. Ficklin writes across multiple genres but leans toward Young Adult fiction\, with works ranging from contemporary romance to science fiction and historical novels. Her published works include the bestselling Stolen Empire series\, The Lost Imperials (co-written with Tyler H. Jolley)\, and several standalone titles. \nFicklin’s experience spans both traditional and self-publishing avenues. Beyond her work as an author\, she has served as an acquisitions editor\, marketing assistant\, and script evaluator\, demonstrating her knowledge of various aspects of the publishing industry. You can find more information on her official website.
URL:https://westerncoloradowriters.org/event/april-writers-night-marketing-for-authors/
LOCATION:The Art Center\, 1803 N. 7th Street\, Grand Junction\, CO\, 81501\, United States
CATEGORIES:Writer's Nights
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Denver:20260505T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Denver:20260505T193000
DTSTAMP:20260426T150843
CREATED:20260223T173201Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260223T173201Z
UID:4762-1778004000-1778009400@westerncoloradowriters.org
SUMMARY:May Writer's Night: Creative Non-fictioning – Hey\, It Happens! with Brooke Carlson
DESCRIPTION:When faced with the blank page\, where do you go? Is your tendency to fall back on “that time when”…or\, “do you remember…”? Life is stranger than fiction\, and if you want to work out some of your lived experiences in writing\, then this session is for you! We’ll do a number of exercises to help strengthen the pen and generate ideas\, as well as share and talk writing! \nJoin the Western Colorado Writers’ Forum on May 5\, 2026\, from 6-7:30 p.m. at The Art Center in Grand Junction for this fun\, generative session! \n\n\nSpeaker Bio\n \nBrooke A. Carlson has been falling through books\, writing here and there\, and teaching all over the place for ages. Slipping through higher ed for the last couple of decades has meant publications on pedagogy in academic spaces\, and pushing to expand scholarly writing into the public. Along the way\, poetry happens.
URL:https://westerncoloradowriters.org/event/may-writers-night-creativenonfiction/
LOCATION:The Art Center\, 1803 N. 7th Street\, Grand Junction\, CO\, 81501\, United States
CATEGORIES:Writer's Nights
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Denver:20260602T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Denver:20260602T193000
DTSTAMP:20260426T150843
CREATED:20260224T212642Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260224T212642Z
UID:4792-1780423200-1780428600@westerncoloradowriters.org
SUMMARY:June Writer's Night: Writing Sense\, a Conversation with Kathryn Wilder
DESCRIPTION:Our senses inform us. They can also inform the reader. In this conversation\, we will pull examples from Wilder’s work—and from your own. Please feel free to bring short (one sentence or less) samplings of writing from the senses. We will share these\, and\, time permitting\, create some new samples to take home. \nJoin the WCWF for this fun\, interactive session with author Kat Wilder on Tuesday\, June 2\, 2026\, from 6-7:30 p.m. at The Art Center in Grand Junction\, 7th and Orchard. \n  \nSpeaker Bio\nIn Kathryn Wilder’s The Last Cows: On Ranching\, Wonder\, and a Woman’s Heart\, she reveals her ranching past (and more)\, chronicles the impact of cattle on our desert lands\, and raises questions about how seventy and cattle mix. Booklist says in a starred review that Wilder is “fearless in her prose and perspective.” This has won her a Colorado Book Award\, Western Heritage Award\, Ellen Meloy Desert Writers Award\, Nautilus Book Award\, and more. With an MFA from the Institute of American Indian Arts\, Wilder writes\, cowboys\, and lives among mustangs in southwestern Colorado.
URL:https://westerncoloradowriters.org/event/junewritersnight-kathryn-wilder/
LOCATION:The Art Center\, 1803 N. 7th Street\, Grand Junction\, CO\, 81501\, United States
CATEGORIES:Writer's Nights
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