Tahoe Literary Festival

10:00am PDT

Transitions: A Multi-Disciplinary Poetry Workshop

Saturday October 10, 2026 10:00am - 11:00am PDT

Jesse James Ziegler presents a poetry workshop to help build personal artistry and identity. It will incorporate ekphrastic exercises, blackout poetry opportunities and individual written prompt responses. Materials will be provided for the participants including paper, writing utensils and clipboards.

Speakers

Jesse James Ziegler

Jesse James Ziegler is Poet Laureate Emeritus for the City of Reno (5th-Jan/24-Dec/25). He is the Vice President of Spoken Views Collective and the Creative Director for Monday Night Poetry (Voted 2024 and 2025 Best Open Mic - Reno News & Review), True Colors Poetry and Collective... Read More →

Saturday October 10, 2026 10:00am - 11:00am PDT
Tahoe City Library 740 N Lake Blvd, Tahoe City

Poetry

11:15am PDT

Reluctant Sales: 3 Marketing Moves for Writers Who'd Rather Be Writing

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

Tahoe City Library

Most writers would rather do anything besides sell their books. No thanks to being pushy or constant rejections. This session reframes the marketing work: selling from a place of curiosity and helpfulness is just connecting a reader to a book they'll love. The presenter will lay out three marketing moves a writer can do directly, with or without a publisher: getting into reader book clubs, onto regional bookstore shelves, as well as in retailers besides bookstores, such as enthusiasts' stores and museum gift shops. We'll go through the marketing playbook: which directories book clubs use to find their next reads, the anatomy of a winning sell sheet, displays that sell for you and the calculation on how print-on-demand copies can out-earn royalties. Attendees leave with a system, first steps, and proof from local writers already using these moves.

Speakers

Lisa Kirkman

Lisa Kirkman writes literary fiction from the Lake Tahoe area, where she landed after a thirty-year career in marketing and journalism. A sixth-generation Californian, she writes short stories and a novel rooted in her family's long history in the state, and is at work seeking agent... Read More →

Saturday October 10, 2026 11:15am - 12:15pm PDT
Tahoe City Library 740 N Lake Blvd, Tahoe City

Craft Talk, All Genres

3:00pm PDT

Author Conversation with Cara Benson and Karen Terrey

Saturday October 10, 2026 3:00pm - 4:00pm PDT

Tahoe City Library

An Armsfull of Birds: A Personal Field Guide to Love, Loss, and Commitment
Join poet, essayist, and storyteller Cara Benson for a discussion of her new memoir with Karen
Terrey, Nevada County Poet Laureate. Building on a long writing friendship that started in
graduate school, this intimate conversation will explore questions of why a vulnerable and
individual human voice matters in the evolving world of AI, how to discover the intersection of
the larger planetary story within our personal lives, and methods for keeping our hearts in the
game of manifesting change as we collectively take care of the more than human. Benson will
also touch on the project of writing about her personal tragic loss, finding an agent, and
ultimately a publisher for her memoir.

*This author conversation is ideal for readers.

Speakers

Cara Benson

Presenter

Cara Benson’s writing has been published in The New York Times, Boston Review, Orion, Sierra
Magazine, The Los Angeles Review of Books, Electric Literature, and selected for Best American
Poetry. Her first book, (made), is a collection of prose poems that was praised by The
Huffin... Read More →

Karen Terrey

Karen Terrey serves as Poet Laureate for Nevada County, CA, where her mission is to support a
welcoming arts community that encourages collaboration and growth. She's an editor and
writing coach, offering creative writing workshops online and in Truckee through her business,
Tangled
... Read More →

Saturday October 10, 2026 3:00pm - 4:00pm PDT
Tahoe City Library 740 N Lake Blvd, Tahoe City

In-Conversation, Great for Booklovers