Name: Writing Trauma: Transforming Pain into Powerful Story
Start: 2026-10-10T11:15:00-0700
End: 2026-10-10T12:15:00-0700

Writing Trauma: Transforming Pain into Powerful Story

Saturday October 10, 2026 11:15am - 12:15pm PDT

Gatekeeper's Basket Room

How do writers transform life's most difficult experiences into stories that heal, connect, and endure? In this conversation, three authors explore the craft of writing trauma, From religious trauma to deeply personal experiences of loss, transformation, and resilience, the panel examines how vulnerability becomes meaningful narrative without relying on sensationalism. Attendees will gain insight into balancing emotional truth with strong storytelling, creating authentic character and memoir arcs, and writing difficult experiences in ways that serve both the writer and the reader. Whether writing memoir or fiction, participants will leave with practical strategies for approaching emotionally complex material with courage, compassion, and craft.

Speakers

Susan Huckle

Author

Susan Huckle is an actor in Los Angeles, but that wasn’t self-indulgent enough, so she wrote a memoir. The Earth Is Flat?! And Other Things My Mother Taught Me debuted on Earth Day 2026 and quickly became a #1 New Release. She grew up in Santa Maria, CA, and earned her B.A. in Journalism... Read More →

Allison Landa

Writer, Editor, and Coach

Allison Landa is the author of BEARDED LADY, a memoir. She has held artist residencies at MacDowell, Writers Colony at Dairy Hollow, WordSpace, Playa Summer Lake, and Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts. She earned her MFA in fiction writing from Saint Mary's College of California... Read More →

Katya Dunko

Author, Mother, Business Owner

Katya Dunko is the author of I Drank From the Nile: An Unbreakable Memoir of Resilience, a memoir exploring addiction, survival, motherhood, identity, and breaking generational cycles. Born in Ukraine and shaped by life across four countries, her work blends emotional honesty with... Read More →

Saturday October 10, 2026 11:15am - 12:15pm PDT
Gatekeeper's Basket Room 130 W Lake Blvd, Tahoe City, CA 96145

Panel Discussion, All Genres

Tickets

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Tahoe Literary Festival

Susan Huckle

Allison Landa

Katya Dunko

Attendees (3)

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Success you have shared X tickets.

Tahoe Literary Festival

Susan Huckle

Allison Landa

Katya Dunko

Attendees (3)

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