Boulder Writers Alliance Newsletter
August 2026
Hullo, Writers!
In a mere five days, we hope to see you at the BWA Writing Workshop on August 15, followed by a happy hour at the Rayback Collective! Hope to see you there, supporting our members, writing, and talking shop at the first (or did the group do this before?) BWA workshop!
BWA Writing Workshop This Saturday:
August 15, 9a.m.- 5p.m.
Sign up to attend: click here for a member ticket—the cost is $20 for lunch (plus a $1.99 processing fee, don’t you love the digital ‘convenience’), with the workshop free for members.
The event, to take place in Boulder, 3063 Sterling Cir #5, Boulder, CO, helps you sharpen your writing focus and understand who you are writing for. Published Colorado authors, including some of our own BWA members and a book marketing expert, are giving micro-lectures that are combined with time for writing and for feedback. The event helps attendees understand a structure you can use to craft your thoughts around the key elements necessary for focusing your writing!
Presenters:
· BWA Authors and Writers, including Gary A McBride, Natasha Stavros, Asa Henderson, and more.
· Rachael Weaver: Author, Point of Direction which “Oprah Magazine” named a Top Ten Book To Pick Up Now and won the 2015 Willa Cather Award for Fiction.
· Mary Leo: Author of dozens of novels across genres and on USA Today Bestsellers list.
· Elina Vaysbeyn: Publishing expert with experience at Shambhala Publications, Simon & Schuster and Penguin Random House.
Hope to see you there!
Let me know if you want the BWA to sponsor more writing workshops. Is this a direction you would like the BWA to continue to take? Yes or no, please email and let me know: president@bwa.org.
Social After Workshop August 15, 5:30p.m. Rayback
Stop by Rayback Collective, 5:30 on, for a happy hour on August 15. Join writers after the workshop (attendance at the workshop is optional). Hope to see you there!
First Annual BWA Authors Showcase at the Boulder Bookstore August 25, 6:30p.m.
Tickets: The tickets are $6.25, and serve as a $5 off coupon (distributed at the event) that you can use the night of the talk. Tickets are available using this link: AuthorShowcaseBBS.eventbrite.
Spend an hour supporting five BWA authors, who will each give a brief talk and take questions. Their books will also be available for purchase.
· Gary McBride: Literary Forensics
· Andrea Mann: Bending the Blues in Cincinnati
· Kevin Kelly: The Life of Donovan O’Brien
· Val Bruesch: Judicious Murder
· Matthew Huffman: The Desert Reckoning
It will be a great time! Hope to see you there.
Reminder: Printed Handouts for BWA
BWA has printed some postcards and business cards that we can distribute to get the word out about our organization. We have business cards to leave out at appropriate locations (and after getting permission at the site) to let people know about the Boulder Writers Alliance as a local writing resource. These can be left anywhere writers may go, such as libraries, bookstores, and coffee shops. BWA members can carry some to leave with anyone who might be interested in our group.
A batch of postcards are available to have at meetup events, extolling the many virtues of supporting the BWA through membership.
Contact Beth at president@bwa.org if you would like to help distribute these.
Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Conference: Colorado Gold 10/1 – 10/4
Hyatt Regency Hotel/Conference Center in Denver/Aurora, Colorado
The Conference website: https://www.rmfw.org/
The conference offers 120-plus hours of workshops, includes options for master classes and agent pitches. Featured: Stephen Graham Jones and Sarah Maclean.
Reminder: BWA member publication list for the BWA.org website
Please send us information about your published work! Why, you ask? Will it bring you fame and glory? (Nah.) Will it expand your work’s exposure? (A little). So why bother? The answer To encourage writers to join BWA—we offer something to writers and by gum, we are legit.
It’s one thing to talk about a writers group; it’s another to show that our members are serious about writing—and anyone who is serious about their writing should consider joining BWA. We’re THAT good. Well, we are pretty good. And anyone who wants to write can gain support and skills through BWA.
So send us information about your publications. (We could add a page about rejections, but nobody needs that, really.) We’ll post that to the BWA website. Publications may include books, poetry, stories or essays in anthologies and magazines, technical writing, and any others. please send your publications list to our BWA secretary, Allison: AAndraski@
For each publication, please include the bibliographic information (roughly in MLA format, examples below) as well as the genre, and we will add them to the website soon.
Example 1 – Book:
Author Last Name, First Name. Title of Book. Publisher, Year.
Genre: xxx
Example 2 – Essay/Story in Collection:
Author Last Name, First Name. ”Title of Story/Essay.” Title of
Genre: xxx
BWA Events
Our meetup groups are going strong. Reserve your spot (and confirm dates and times!).
Literary Fiction Critique Group
Host: Christina Craigo
When: August 11, 5:30 pm
Where: Online Meeting
Write (Work) Together
Host: Rick Killian
When: August 13, 8am onward
Where: Neptune Cafe & Bar, 633 S. Broadway, Boulder
BWA Writers Workshop
Organizer: Natasha Stavros
When: August 15, 9-5
Where: 3063 Sterling Circle, Boulder
BWA Writing Workshop Happy Hour
Organizer: Natasha Stavros
When: August 15, 5:30 – 7:30
Where: Rayback Collective, 2775 Valmont Rd, Boulder
Evening Write Together
Host: Nicole Cardona
When: August 18, 6:00 – 8:00 p.m.
Where: Cafe Luna, 800 Coffman St., Longmont, CO
Creative Writer’s Critique Group
Hosts: Rolin Geronsin and Christopher Macor
When: August 19, 10 am – 12 pm
Where: Boulder Public Library – Main Library, 1001 Arapahoe Ave · Boulder, CO
Write to Publish, Publish to Sell
Host: Rick Killian
When: August 19, 6pm
Where: Boulder Public Library, Main Library, 1001 Arapahoe Ave · Boulder, CO
Write (Work) Together
Host: Rick Killian
When: August 27, Noon onward
Where: Neptune Cafe & Bar, 633 S. Broadway, Boulder
Creative Writer’s Critique Group
Hosts: Rolin Geronsin and Christopher Macor
When: Sept 2, 4:30
Where: Boulder Public Library – Main Library, 1001 Arapahoe Ave · Boulder, CO
Writers Who Read
Host: Gary McBride
When: September 6, 2:30 pm
Where: Boulder Public Library – Main Library, 1001 Arapahoe Ave · Boulder, CO
Write (Work) Together
Host: Rick Killian
When: September 10, 8am onward
Where: Neptune Cafe & Bar, 633 S. Broadway, Boulder