Truth & Fiction: On Writing and Remembering

In this workshop we will engage with the practice of writing by looking through the lens of memory. We write what we know, and what we know best often lives in the past, when we experienced life without regard to outcome or expectation, or in those moments when we were confronted with the sharp edge of reality, never to be the same from that point forward. Memories are, as Tim O’Brien said, “odd little fragments that have no beginning and end.” In exploring memory, we break away from traditional linear narratives and free ourselves to follow the path of our pen, to “tell all the truth but with a slant,” as Emily Dickinson said. This is a fiction writing workshop for writers of all levels. You will leave with inspiration for your current writing projects and new work to share with the world. Limited to 12 participants, all sharing is voluntary.

Aspen Everett (they/he) is a poet and writer from the wind-tossed flatlands of southeast Kansas. They are the author of Tributaries from Middle Creek Publishing, and their work has been published by Planted Journal, South Broadway Press, Twenty Bellows, Anthropocene Magazine, and more. They were nominated for the Best of the Net and Pushcart Prize in 2025. Aspen is the Book Events Manager at Trident Bookstore & Cafe, a Community Engagement Instructor with Lighthouse Writers, Assistant Editor for Screaming at America, and host of Spotlight: A Boulder Notoriety Show. They live in Boulder, Colorado with their seventeen-year-old. One of them does more dishes than the other.