Conference Schedule 2020
Featuring over 50 craft talks, workshops, panels, and presentations, the Desert Nights, Rising Stars Writers Conference is eclectic, balanced, and diverse, providing comprehensive coverage of the creative writing field.
Conference sessions are about an hour long and take place throughout the day, Friday and Saturday, February 21 and 22, 2020 from 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.. Receptions, keynotes, and other special events take place from 5:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.. Advanced workshops take place on Thursday, February 20, 2020.
To view the full schedule and find sessions for this year's conference, use the side menu or keep reading.
You can also view individual schedules for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.
To learn more about the conference, you can meet our faculty or register for the conference today!
View Sessions for the 2020 Conference
Matrices, Diagrams, and Embodying the Ensemble
Matt Bell, Leah Newsom
Matt Bell, Leah Newsom
Friday, February 21, 2020, 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., Traditions, University Club
Craft Talk, Presentation; Fiction, Mixed Genre
Hey, I Know You! Building Strong Characters
Michael A Stackpole, Tracey Baptiste, HelenKay Dimon, Cristina García, Jonathan Danielson
Michael A Stackpole, Tracey Baptiste, HelenKay Dimon, Cristina García, Jonathan Danielson
Friday, February 21, 2020, 4:15 p.m. to 5:15 p.m., Carson Ballroom, Old Main
Panel; Creative Nonfiction, Fiction, Mixed Genre
Friday, February 21, 2020, 4:15 p.m. to 5:15 p.m., Heritage, University Club
Craft Talk, Presentation; Creative Nonfiction, Fiction, Memoir, Poetry
Friday, February 21, 2020, 4:15 p.m. to 5:15 p.m., Thoren, University Club
Generative Workshop, Presentation, Workshop; Creative Nonfiction, Essays, Horror, Memoir, Personal Essays
Writing through Food
Susan Nguyen
Susan Nguyen
Friday, February 21, 2020, 4:15 p.m. to 5:15 p.m., Basha, Old Main
Generative Workshop, Presentation, Workshop; Creative Nonfiction, Fiction, Memoir, Mixed Genre, Poetry, Short Stories
Writing while Scared
Ivelisse Rodriguez
Ivelisse Rodriguez
Friday, February 21, 2020, 4:15 p.m. to 5:15 p.m., Traditions, University Club
Generative Workshop, Presentation, Workshop; Creative Practice, Writing Life, Writing Practice, Writing Process
Human/Nonhuman
E E Hussey
E E Hussey
Friday, February 21, 2020, 4:15 p.m. to 5:15 p.m., Tooker, Old Main
Generative Workshop, Presentation, Workshop; Mixed Genre, Nature Writing, Science Fiction
Friday, February 21, 2020, 5:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., Carson Ballroom, Old Main
Reception;
Conference Keynote: The Third Way
Ingrid Rojas Contreras
Ingrid Rojas Contreras
Friday, February 21, 2020, 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., Carson Ballroom, Old Main
Keynote; Feminism, Gender, Mixed Genre, Women's Studies
Saturday, February 22, 2020, 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m., Tooker, Old Main
Craft Talk, Generative Workshop, Presentation; Creative Practice, Visual Art, Writing Process
Saturday, February 22, 2020, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Front Lawn, Old Main, 400 E Tyler Mall, Tempe, AZ 85281
Fair, Festival;
Saturday, February 22, 2020, 11:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m., Carson Ballroom, Old Main
Reading; Mixed Genre, Students
Beyond the Ripped Bodice: Romance Writing in the 21st Century
Romance Writers of America Phoenix, HelenKay Dimon, Cathy McDavid, Deloris Nash, Willow Sanders, Kris Tualla
Romance Writers of America Phoenix, HelenKay Dimon, Cathy McDavid, Deloris Nash, Willow Sanders, Kris Tualla
Saturday, February 22, 2020, 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m., Front Lawn, Old Main, Arizona State University Tempe, 400 E Tyler Mall, Tempe, AZ 85281
Panel, Reading, Talk; Romance
Saturday, February 22, 2020, 1:45 p.m. to 2:45 p.m., Tooker, Old Main
Collaboration, Conversation, Discussion, Generative Workshop, Workshop; Community, Creative Practice, Experimental, Fiction, Hybrid, Writing Process
Children's Storytime
Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators Arizona, Michael Hale
Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators Arizona, Michael Hale
Saturday, February 22, 2020, 1:45 p.m. to 2:05 p.m., Front Lawn, Old Main, Arizona State University Tempe, 400 E Tyler Mall, Tempe, AZ 85281
Reading; Children's Books
Getting Published in Literary Journals
Superstition Review, Hayden's Ferry Review
Superstition Review, Hayden's Ferry Review
Saturday, February 22, 2020, 2:15 p.m. to 2:45 p.m., Front Lawn, Old Main, Arizona State University Tempe, 400 E Tyler Mall, Tempe, AZ 85281
Panel; Business of Writing, Editing, Publishing, Submitting
Winning with Serial Fiction
Michael A Stackpole
Michael A Stackpole
Saturday, February 22, 2020, 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., Heritage, University Club
Craft Talk, Presentation, Workshop; Fiction, Mixed Genre, Novels, Publishing, Short Stories
Saturday, February 22, 2020, 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., Traditions, University Club
Craft Talk, Presentation, Workshop; Mixed Genre
Cartonera Collective: A Bilingual Reading
Cardboard House Press
Cardboard House Press
Saturday, February 22, 2020, 3:00 p.m. to 3:20 p.m., Front Lawn, Old Main, Arizona State University Tempe, 400 E Tyler Mall, Tempe, AZ 85281
Performance, Reading, Talk; Book Arts, Community, Poetry, Translation, World Literature
Saturday, February 22, 2020, 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., Basha, Old Main
Craft Talk, Presentation; Experimental, Hybrid, Mixed Genre, Poetry
Saturday, February 22, 2020, 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., Thoren, University Club
Conversation, Craft Talk, Discussion, Generative Workshop, Presentation, Workshop; Criticism, Gender, LGBTQIA, Race, Sexuality, Short Stories, Social Justice
So, You Wrote Your First Book. Now What?
Ivelisse Rodriguez, Vanessa Hua, Andrea Avery, Cathy Linh Che, Justin Petropoulos
Ivelisse Rodriguez, Vanessa Hua, Andrea Avery, Cathy Linh Che, Justin Petropoulos
Saturday, February 22, 2020, 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., Carson Ballroom, Old Main
Panel; Business of Writing, Publishing
Saturday, February 22, 2020, 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., Tooker, Old Main
Discussion, Generative Workshop, Presentation, Workshop; Autobiography, Creative Nonfiction, Memoir, Poetry
Pollentongue + Queer Poetry Salon
tanner menard, Jake Skeets, Elliot Winter
tanner menard, Jake Skeets, Elliot Winter
Saturday, February 22, 2020, 3:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., Front Lawn, Old Main, Arizona State University Tempe, 400 E Tyler Mall, Tempe, AZ 85281
Conversation, Panel, Reading, Talk; American Indian, Community, Creative Practice, Indigenous, LGBTQIA, Poetry, Social Justice, Social Practice
Listen Here, Jackalope: A Tolsun Books Reading
Sarah Abigail Adleman, Angela M. Brommel, Michael Buckius, Sarah Sala
Sarah Abigail Adleman, Angela M. Brommel, Michael Buckius, Sarah Sala
Saturday, February 22, 2020, 4:15 p.m. to 5:15 p.m., Front Lawn, Old Main, Arizona State University Tempe, 400 E Tyler Mall, Tempe, AZ 85281
Reading; Hybrid, Memoir, Mixed Genre, Poetry
Wading through the Noise: Resilience and the Role Critique Plays in Revision
Natalie Scenters Zapico, Jenny Irish, Bill Konigsberg, Malik Toms
Natalie Scenters Zapico, Jenny Irish, Bill Konigsberg, Malik Toms
Saturday, February 22, 2020, 4:15 p.m. to 5:15 p.m., Carson Ballroom, Old Main
Panel; Criticism, Mixed Genre, Revision
Saturday, February 22, 2020, 4:15 p.m. to 5:15 p.m., Heritage, University Club
Generative Workshop, Presentation, Workshop; Poetry, Social Justice
Saturday, February 22, 2020, 4:15 p.m. to 5:15 p.m., Tooker, Old Main
Presentation; Book Arts, Book Design, Business of Writing, Publishing
Making the Fantastical Real
Judith Starkston
Judith Starkston
Saturday, February 22, 2020, 4:15 p.m. to 5:15 p.m., Thoren, University Club
Craft Talk, Generative Workshop, Presentation, Workshop; Fantasy, Fiction, Genre Fiction, Historical Fiction, History, Mixed Genre, Novels, Short Stories, Speculative Fiction
Saturday, February 22, 2020, 4:15 p.m. to 5:15 p.m., Basha, Old Main
Conversation, Craft Talk, Discussion, Generative Workshop, Presentation, Workshop; Climate Fiction, Fiction, Mixed Genre, Nature Writing