LITERARY FUTURES by The Word

Literary Futures invites writers of all levels are invited to join this cohort of local Denver-metro writers to find community connection and connection to their individual voices.

We invite interested writers across genres and experience levels to join this program to build:

Confidence - participants identify with the writing path that suits each of them best
Knowledge - participants gain insight into writing and publishing processes
Community - participants connect with other local writers, establishing a lasting network of support

UPCOMING SESSIONS

MAY 9, 2026 at ANYTHINK HURON STREET

MAY 31, 2026 at DENVER PUBLIC LIBRARY - CENTRAL

JUNE 28, 2026 at DENVER PUBLIC LIBRARY - CENTRAL

Part One - Connecting to your voice

11:30 - 12:15 Arrival & Introduction to The Word

Traci Jones (Ransoming the Captive, Standing Against the Wind)

12:15 - 12:45 A Self-publishing Journey and Q&A

Nancy Viera (Flower Moon Runner, The Grief and the Happiness)

12:45 - 1:15 Writing prompt led by Nancy Viera

1:15 - 2:15 Lunch/writing/connecting

Part Two - Publishing goals

2:15 - 2:55 4 Main Types of Editing: Presentation and Q&A

Sangeeta Mehta

2:55 - 3:45 Feedback on writing

Discussion of Suggested 1:1 topics:
- project in progress, outline of ideas; or publishing: what journey (traditional/self-pub/etc) is best for me, what are helpful self-editing techniques; when is the best time to start working with an independent editor
Participant one-on-ones with editor Sangeeta Mehta or author Traci Jones
Concurrent writing time–Add additional prompts

Part Three - Publishing & community

3:45 - 4:15 Community Sharing

Options, e.g.: Read from prompt, take-aways, questions, one thing you learned today, one thing you hope to learn more about after today

4:00 - 4:30 Wrap Up

Traci Jones

NOV. 7, 2026 at BOULDER PUBLIC LIBRARY

More information on the Nov. 7 workshop coming soon

STAY TUNED FOR ADDITIONAL DATES COMING THIS FALL!

OUR FACILITATOR

Traci Jones

Traci L. Jones holds a B.A. from Pomona College. and an M.A. from the University of Denver.

Her first YA novel, Standing Against the Wind, was published at Farrar, Straus, and Giroux (FSG), in 2006 and won the Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Award. Her second novel, Finding My Place, was published in 2010 and the third, Silhouetted by the Blue, in 2011. She is represented by the Metamorphosis Literary Agency. Ransoming the Captive, her fourth was published July 2022 with Black Rose Writing.

In 2016, she joined the MFA program at Regis University, the Lighthouse Writing Workshop in 2020, and began teaching at the Honors College at the University of Colorado at Denver in 2022.

She and her husband have four children and live in Denver.

INSTRUCTORS

Dino Enrique Piacentini

Dino Enrique Piacentini’s stories and essays have appeared in One Story, Pembroke, Gulf Coast, Confrontation, The Masters’ Review, The Atticus Review, The Globe & Mail, and The Massachusetts Review, among other places. His debut novel, Invasion of the Daffodils, about a Mexican-American family living on an island off the coast of California during the Korean War, was just published by Astrophil Press in October 2024.

Currently, he lives in Denver, where he teaches creative writing at the University of Denver’s University College and Lighthouse Writers Workshop. Before becoming a writer, he worked at various visual arts organizations throughout San Francisco, including Galería de la Raza, Yerba Buena Center, and The Mexican Museum.

Maria Heater

Maria joined NLA in 2018 after gaining experience at several other literary agencies. She is now Kristin Nelson’s administrative mastermind, handling all things queries, submissions, and foreign rights. She is an essential first reader, reporting to the agent team on requested manuscripts and providing developmental comments on client material.

As a citizen of the world, Maria is multilingual and lived in Latin America and Asia for several years. She has been a bookseller, a SFWA mentee, a PitchWars mentor, and occasional writer of speculative fiction. She is passionate about advocating for marginalized voices. When not reading submissions, Maria enjoys new motherhood, wrangling her two cats, and daydreaming about her next adventure abroad.

Nancy Viera

Nancy Viera is a Mexican American
author from Denver, Colorado. She is
the author of the memoir The Grief
and The Happiness, four poetry
collections, and the forthcoming
novel Flower Moon Runner. Her work
has been showcased at the Denver
Art Museum, and she has taught
writing workshops in schools and
colleges including Colorado College
and Regis University.

Pardeep Toor

Pardeep Toor's writing has appeared in the Best Debut Short Stories 2021: The PEN America Dau Prize, Southern Humanities Review, Catapult, Electric Literature, and Longreads. His short story collection, HANDS, was published in April 2026 by Cornerstone Press.

Leah Pierre

A Texas native, Leah briefly moved to the East Coast to attend Rosemont College and to pursue her dream of working in publishing. She graduated from Rosemont College with a B.A. in English and History and soon after became an agent at Ladderbird Literary Agency. Leah then went on to pursue and receive her M.A. in Publishing from her alma mater as well. Having accomplished her dream of working in publishing, she has since moved back to the South to begin her next adventure and continue searching for the next commercial YA or Adult project that will hook her (or make her cry). She is a tenacious advocate for BIPOC writers and is always looking for ways to bring more diverse intersectionality to publishing.

Sangeeta Mehta

Sangeeta Mehta has worked in the book publishing field since the late 1990s. She has been an acquiring editor at both Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (the children's division of the Hachette Book Group) and Simon Pulse (the teen paperback division of Simon & Schuster). She currently consults on fiction projects with individual authors as well as corporate and independent book publishers. Sangeeta was honored to have served as a board member of The Word: A Storytelling Sanctuary 2018-2020 and more recently volunteered as a reader for The Word’s Editor-Mentorship program. She has also been a board member of the Editorial Freelancers Association. A graduate of U.C. San Diego and UCLA, Sangeeta began her book publishing career with a literary agency in Southern California before moving to New York City in 2002. Learn more at her website, www.mehtabookediting.com.