2026 GET LIT! Literary Festival
Ignite Your Creative Fire!
Get ready! The 2026 GET LIT! Literary Festival is coming soon!
About GET LIT!
Each year, CREATE Trinidad brings together professional writers from across the country to lead inspiring workshops that share their craft, professional insight, and lived literary experience.
The GET LIT! Festival is a three-day celebration of creative writing, community, and storytelling. Festival events include a fundraising kick-off dinner, a silent auction, open mic nights for writers to share their work, and hands-on workshops designed for writers of all levels.
A core part of the GET LIT! mission is supporting local youth. Festival writers visit area schools at no cost, and all festival workshops are free for students of any age with a valid student ID. Proceeds from the festival help ensure these programs remain accessible and impactful for years to come.
Location: The Commons @ Space to Create, 218 W Main St, Trinidad, CO 81082
Schedule
In School Workshops
September 16th, 17th, & 18th
Location: Trinidad High, Trinidad Middle, and Hoehne Schools
Want to be on our list of schools? Contact us at trinidadcreativedistrict@gmail.com
Keynote & Kickoff Celebration
Friday, September 18th
6:00 - 8:00 pm
Location: The Commons @ Space to Create
Keynote Speaker: Bobby LeFebre
Workshops
Saturday, September 19th
9:30 am - 5:45 pm
Location: The Commons @ Space to Create
Open Mic Night (FREE)
Saturday, September 19th
7:00 pm - 9:30 pm
Workshops
Sunday, September 20th
9:30 am - 12:45 pm
Location: The Commons @ Space to Create
Ticket Information
Meet the Writers
Dedicated, experienced, passionate writers and workshop leaders are here to support you in your writing craft.
Festival Workshops
Workshop descriptions are below. This section will be updated regularly so stay tuned. The workshop schedule is incoming!
Structure of Screen Writing with Darek Thomas
In the Structure of Screenwriting, we will cover the fundamentals of screenwriting in three parts. In part one we will cover what makes a story, what makes a story good, and how to make the ordinary extraordinary. We will be covering elements from David Mamet’s Three Uses of the Knife and Stephen King’s On Writing. In part two we will cover the structure of screenwriting its purposes and fundamentals. In this section we will cover elements from Syd Field’s The Fundamentals of Screenwriting. In part three we will break into groups and create a script using fairytales. The fairytales will be provided by the instructor. Reading or knowing the three books used in this workshop will help, however, it is not necessary.
Traditional Haikus by the River with Darek Thomas
In Traditional Haikus by the River, we will study the traditional haiku using place, time and imagery in a formal 5-7-5 structure with a kireji, or a turn, at the end. By the end of the workshop students will have created three traditional haikus in the original Japanese form. Students will need pen and a notepad to take down to the river and create their traditional haiku poems. We will meet 15 minutes before workshop time at The Commons @ Space to Create, so we can walk to the river together.
Reading Like a Pro with Gregory SETH Harris
In this workshop, we'll learn how to pull your audience in, and keep them engaged. This workshop will focus on reading/reciting poetry effectively and enhancing your presentation with acting and/or performing techniques. Performance poet SETH will share his holistic approach to winning over audiences.
The Poem Rises Up with Gregory SETH Harris
This writing workshop will emphasize writing strong, provocative imagery. Through a technique poet SETH describes as "writing thru the backdoor" participants will gain insights into how and why poetic language works. Bring plenty of paper.
Writing All the Way to the End: Finding the Stories Only You Can Tell
with Jacqueline St. Joan
In this welcoming, hands-on workshop, author and former judge Jacqueline St. Joan shares practical ways to write memoir with honesty, curiosity, and courage. Unlike a cold court transcript, memory is an invitation to discover emotional truth through scene, narrative, reflection, and language. Drawing on ideas from her weekly Substack newsletter, Writing All the Way to the End, Jackie invites participants to look beyond family stories alone. Memoirs become richer when we notice the larger world that surrounded our lives—the birds outside the kitchen window, the rivers we crossed, and history unfolding around us. Through a series of brief, engaging writing prompts, participants will explore topics such as The Chapter You Keep Avoiding, Permission to Tell the Truth, Why Place Matters, and Writing Against Forgetting. There will be opportunities to write, share (if desired), and leave with practical ideas for continuing a memoir after the festival ends. This workshop offers encouragement, inspiration, and a reminder that it is never too late to begin telling the truth. No previous writing experience is necessary. Participants should bring paper and a pen or a laptop.
Writing the Burn: Poetry as a Path of Personal Healing, Resilience and Resistance with Rachel Kellum
How might we walk through the burn of our lives into greater awareness, resilience, love and justice? In this workshop, we will explore the charred forests of the heart through the lens and practice of poetry writing. Employing poems from Walking the Burn and others as guides, we will reflect on our own experiences and how to weave difficult subjects—such as generational trauma, struggles with mental health, grief and social injustice—into poems that speak to the fragility and strength of the human spirit and the balm of the natural world. Our approach will emphasize the importance of concrete imagery and the beauty in ordinary language, inspired by poets like Sharon Olds and Robert Hass, and the “politics of the personal” in the work of Adrienne Rich. We will walk together through group discussions of mentor texts, generative writing prompts, and short meditative exercises drawn from Bön Buddhist practice, to enter a space for self-reflection, vulnerability and poetic craft. Writers will experiment with recurring motifs of place, nature, and family toward transforming raw, personal narrative into powerful, lyric poetry that heals—ourselves and our world.
Every Place Has a Story - Writing Local History with Sherry Skye Stuart
Is there a place that calls to you—one whose stories, people, buildings and events spark your curiosity? This hands-on class is designed to help you turn that interest into a compelling historical project. We’ll walk through the process step by step: choosing a topic, gathering and evaluating resources, organizing your research, permissions and ethics, beginning your writing, and creating your article, book, presentation. Whether you're interested in local landmarks, family histories, or hidden stories waiting to be told, this class will give you the practical tools and confidence to bring local history to life. Handouts provided.
Lodging Discount
For those traveling to Trinidad for the GET LIT! Festival and need lodging, we have arranged for discounted rate at two of our local hotels. Must book by September 3rd.
Hilton Garden Inn in Trinidad
Book your room online here: Hilton Garden Inn Website and use the code 26LIT
To book via Phone, call 719-845-8000 and let them know your with GET LIT.
Address: 201 Americana Rd, Trinidad, CO 81082
La Quinta Inn & Suites by Wyndham Trinidad
Book your room online here:
To book via Phone, call 719-845-0102 and let them know you're with GET LIT.
Address: 2833 Toupal Dr, Trinidad, CO 81082
