Kael Alford – Visual Storytelling. Kael Alford is a photographer, artist, and educator who seeks creative responses to our catastrophe-ridden era. She examines the stories we tell about ourselves in light of the past and with an eye on the ever-shifting present and possible futures. She has worked as a photojournalist covering conflicts in southeast Europe and the Middle East and for the last two decades has been using photography, video, and audio to explore our relationship to land and a changing climate. She has a BA in English Literature, an MA in journalism from the University of Missouri, and is currently an MFA student in studio art at The University of North Texas. Her work is held in museum collections including the High Museum of Art in Atlanta and the Ogden Museum in New Orleans.
Workshop – The Stories We Tell Ourselves with Photographs. In the echo chambers of social media, photographic images often keep us looking downward and inward, not up and out beyond our screens. What if the smart phones in our pockets were creative companions on our journeys instead of traps for our attention?
Ben Baby – Journalism & Sports Writing. Ben Baby is ESPN’s NFL Nation team reporter focused on the Cincinnati Bengals. Since joining ESPN in July 2019, he provides daily coverage for ESPN.com and makes appearances on SportsCenter, ESPN’s NFL shows, and radio programs. Prior to ESPN, Baby covered Texas A&M and college athletics for The Dallas Morning News. He has also worked at the San Antonio Express-News and started his career as a full-time journalist in 2011 at the Denton Record-Chronicle. Baby is a graduate of the University of North Texas and grew up in Grapevine. He is currently an adjunct journalism professor at Southern Methodist University.
Workshop – Life in the Locker Room: Covering an NFL Team and a Superstar Quarterback. From the middle of July to sometime in either January or February, an NFL beat writer spends more than 100 days in the locker room. That means talking to coaches, scouts, executives, and some of the game’s most popular players, including star quarterback Joe Burrow. This workshop will go over what it’s like to work an NFL beat in a way that produces rich and meaningful storytelling, especially about some of the biggest names in pro sports.
Rebecca Balcarcel – Fiction & Poetry. A Guatemalan-Anglo American, Rebecca Balcárcel is the award-winning author of Shine On, Luz Véliz! and The Other Half of Happy, as well as a contributor to Highlights Magazine and a member of the Texas Institute of Letters. Rebecca loves popcorn, her kitty, and teaching her students as Associate Professor of English at Tarrant County College. Look for Rebecca’s short story in Boundless, an anthology by multi-racial/multi-cultural authors, which she also co-edited. Find Rebecca on YouTube as the SixMinuteScholar.
Workshop – Voice — The Magic Ingredient! Take your writing to the next level by stirring in voice! Learn to spot generic phrases and bland word combinations, and replace them with flavorful word-bites. Try out two different voices in an exercise, and then find your OWN!
Katie Bernet – Fiction. Katie Bernet is the bestselling author of Beth Is Dead. She’s an award-winning creative director and a long-standing member of the DFW Writer’s Workshop. As the oldest of three sisters, she’s a diehard fan of Little Women.
Workshop – Make It Your Own: Write a Retelling. In this workshop, each participant will learn how to write a retelling by putting their own spin on the classic nursery rhyme of “Humpty Dumpty.”
Talmage Boston – Journalism. Talmage Boston is a leading onstage interviewer, historian, Op-Ed writer, and lawyer. He’s written books on baseball history, legal history, and presidential history (with forewords by the likes of John Grisham, Ken Burns, and former US Attorney General Dick Thornburgh) and is a Contributing Columnist for The Dallas Morning News. As a practicing lawyer, he’s been recognized with major awards for the University of Texas Law School, the State Bar of Texas, and the Texas Bar Foundation. He and his wife Claire have lived in the Park Cities for over 40 years, and both their children graduated from Highland Park High School.
Workshop – How to Conduct an Onstage Interview. In recent years, the most frequent format for keynote speaker presentations has become the onstage interview. Session presenter Talmage Boston is recognized as one of the finest interviewers in the state—and has interviewed the likes of former First Lady Laura Bush, former Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger and James Baker, best-selling novelist John Grisham, documentary filmmaker Ken Burns, and Pulitzer-winning historian Doris Kearns Goodwin. His interviews are the subject of his podcast series, Cross-Examining History, now published and promoted by The Dallas Morning News and available on Spotify, SoundCloud, and iTunes. Come to this session and learn best practices in how to get the most out of an interview.
Lizzie Combs & Sarah Galaro – Marketing & Advertising. Sisters Sarah Galaro and Lizzie Combs are Dallas-based writers and marketers. Together, they have formed Tabletop Marketing. Sarah has over a decade of experience as a brand marketer and quarterback of national campaigns. Complementing her is Lizzie, combining experience as a strategist at a New York-based agency with a background in the arts. Tabletop offers full-stack marketing, crafting comprehensive solutions with a special emphasis on strategic planning and brand development. In addition to their work as marketers, Sarah and Lizzie are involved in the Dallas Arts community. Sarah regularly contributes to Arthouse Dallas’ creative writing and poetry workshops. Lizzie has had several original plays and monologues featured in local and national festivals.
Workshop – Short and Sweet: Crafting Micro-Stories for Brands. In this hands-on session, “Short and Sweet: Crafting Micro-Stories for Brands,” students will discover the power of concise storytelling for brand marketing. They’ll explore how to create impactful brand narratives using intentional language, tone, and word choice—crafting messages that capture attention in just a few words. Through exercises and group activities, students will practice turning a brand’s essence into a micro-story that resonates with its target audience, proving that sometimes less really is more. Whether it’s for social media, advertising, or personal branding, this workshop will teach you how to tell compelling stories in the shortest form possible.
Blake Crouch – Fiction & Screenwriting. Blake Crouch is a bestselling novelist and screenwriter. His novels include Upgrade, Recursion, Dark Matter, and the Wayward Pines trilogy. His Pines trilogy was adapted into a television series for FOX, and he also co-created the TNT show Good Behavior, based on his Letty Dobesh novellas. He currently acts as head writer and showrunner for the hit Apple TV+ adaptation of Dark Matter, starring Joel Edgerton and Jennifer Connelly. He lives in Colorado.
Workshop – Round Table Discussion with Blake Crouch. You know how to tell a story, but do you know how to adapt your voice for different mediums? Join us for an intimate, roundtable discussion led by Blake Crouch, a successful novelist and screenwriter. This session is designed for serious writers who want to bridge the gap between creative passion and a professional career in the 2026 media landscape. This isn’t a lecture—it’s a seat at the table. We are inviting 15–20 of Highland Park High School’s most dedicated young writers to sit down with Blake Crouch for a deep-dive roundtable. Whether you are stuck on a second-act twist in your novel or wondering how to format a pilot script for a streaming service, this is your chance to get direct feedback from a pro. This is ideal for high school writers who are finished with the basics and ready for the “real world” of writing.
Bubba Flint – Visual Storytelling. BFA from Southern Methodist University (concentration in painting). Avid painter whose paintings appear across the country in various hip galleries. Award winning syndicated Editorial Cartoonist for The Dallas Morning News, Dallas Cowboys, White Rock Lake Weekly, Katy Trail Weekly, Park Cities People News, Preston Hollow People News, Bowling News, and Amusement Today. Illustrator of 20 children’s books. Created numerous t-shirt designs for companies, organizations and events. Has designed rock concert posters for diverse rock bands from Alice Cooper to The Polyphonic Spree. Work has appeared on Discovery Channel on the show Fast and Loud. Taught editorial cartooning at SMU!
Workshop – Understanding Editorial Cartoons. This presentation will help students understand the importance of editorial cartoons and how the creative process works. Students will have the opportunity to create their own editorial cartoon at the end of the presentation.
Mag Gabbert – Poetry. Mag Gabbert’s debut full-length poetry collection won the Charles B. Wheeler Prize from the Ohio State University and the Writers League of Texas Book Award in Poetry. Gabbert is also the author of two chapbooks, one of which won the Baltic Writing Residencies Chapbook Award. She is the recipient of a Pushcart Prize, a Discovery Award from 92NY’s Unterberg Poetry Center, and fellowships from the Academy of American Poets, the Kenyon Review Writers Workshop, and Idyllwild Arts. Her work has recently been featured in Poetry Daily and Poets.org and can additionally be found in over 100 journals and magazines, including Poetry Magazine, The American Poetry Review, The Paris Review Daily, Prairie Schooner, Guernica, and The Massachusetts Review. Gabbert holds an MFA from the University of California at Riverside and a PhD from Texas Tech University, and she currently teaches at Southern Methodist University and serves as the Poet Laureate of Dallas, Texas.
Workshop – The Sidewalk Poetry Project. This workshop will focus on the Sidewalk Poetry Project, an initiative that Mag is currently working on with the Office of Arts and Culture to stamp poems by Dallas residents into freshly poured sidewalks all over town. In addition to learning about the “2-1-Form,” which is a simple poetic form that Mag created for the project, attendees will receive instructions for how they can submit their own work for consideration and will have a chance to begin writing their own poems.
George Getschow – Nonfiction. George Getschow is a Pulitzer Prize finalist for National Reporting and winner of the Robert F. Kennedy Award for distinguished writing about the underprivileged. He has earned numerous other awards for his writing and was inducted into the Texas Institute of Letters in 2012 for “distinctive literary achievement.” He spent 16 years at The Wall Street Journal as a writer, editor, bureau chief, and Mexico correspondent. In 2007, he was awarded a Master of Fine Arts in Writing, Creative Nonfiction, from Spalding University, Louisville, KY. He spent 12 years serving as writer-in-residence and co-founder of the nationally renowned Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference. During that same period, he teamed up with Larry McMurtry to conduct writing workshops in McMurtry’s hometown of Archer City, TX. After McMurtry’s death in 2021, Getschow curated and edited Pastures of the Empty Page, an acclaimed literary anthology about Larry McMurtry’s epic life.
Workshop – Telling Your Story: How to Craft Distinctive Personal Essays for College Applications and Beyond. Writing a personal essay that will attract the attention of college admission officers isn’t as easy as it sounds. It involves a lot more than laying out your unique qualities, achievements, and goals. It’s about telling your personal story in a way that’s engaging, surprising and memorable. To turn a personal essay into art requires a heightened attention to detail that allows readers to see, hear, and witness, as if at first hand, what the writer has experienced. The challenge involves using a variety of literary techniques – metaphor, pacing, interior monologue, reconstructed dialogue, and other aesthetic strategies of fiction to enable your personal essay to resonate with readers.
Paula Goldberg – Screenwriting. Paula Goldberg has worked in corporate America, academia, and artistically as a content writer, actor, screenwriter, producer, and director. She has written several produced feature films including The Perfect Family starring Kathleen Turner and Emily Deschanel. She recently collaborated with UTD and the Ackerman Center for Holocaust Studies writing the script for Kinder Doll, a stop-motion animated short film (2025). Her most recent feature screenplay, Unimaginable, was selected to The Women’s List 2024 and was a semi-finalist in the Cynosure Screenwriting Awards and the Dallas International Screenwriting Competition. Paula is excited to be currently collaborating with producer Nene Nwoko and director Imole J.O. Ladipo on several projects for 2026, the short drama, Peggy, her original feature screenplay, A Reason for the Season, and contributing writer to the feature film, Butterflies in the Snow.
Workshop – Screenwriting: The Art of Visual Storytelling. Screenwriter Paula Goldberg introduces the basics of visual storytelling for film and television. Topics explored include idea generation, structure and plot, character development, dialogue, and the basics of screenplay format.
Michael Gomez – Songwriting. Michael Gomez is a Dallas-based songwriter, composer, performing artist, and producer. After graduating from Southern Methodist University, Michael focused on guitar and performance at the London Music School (LMS) in London, England. As an artist, he has collaborated on multiple recording projects with notable producers and musicians such as Chris Bell (Erykah Badu, U2, Eagles), Warren Huart (Aerosmith, The Fray, Mutemath), and Gary Parks (Wall of Orange), and drummers Blair Sinta (Alanis Morrissette, Annie Lennox, Stevie Nicks), David Palmer (ABC, Rod Stewart), and in 2025, Alex Torjussen (Niall Horan). In 2009, Michael founded RoomFour Guitar Studio which provides students of all ages and abilities the chance to explore guitar, songwriting, and production in a positive learning environment.
Workshop – Telling Stories With One Line. In this workshop, we will look at a few examples of powerful song titles and attempt to get to the root of their impact. We’ll also talk about what it takes to search for the words that so perfectly express not only what we want to say but that connect a seemingly wide world into a single audience. Students are encouraged to bring a pencil and paper for a writing exercise.
Benji Harris – Songwriting. Benji Harris is a rare and unique combination of talents. Not only is he one of Nashville’s most talented and versatile mainstay musicians, he has also become an in-demand corporate emcee for numerous Fortune 500 companies. As a touring musician, he played guitar for county music superstars on area tours across the country and has appeared on The Today Show, Good Morning America, and Late Night with Seth Meyers. As an Emcee, he brings all the energy of an arena concert to corporate events, with the help of his amazing House Band, Benji and the Jets. With years in the meetings and events industry and the music business, Benji brings passion, creativity, and fun to every event of which he is a part.
Workshop – The Power of Songwriting – How to Write Songs That Matter. In this interactive and musical workshop, Nashville hit songwriter (and HP alum) Benji Harris demystifies the Art of Songwriting. Students will learn how to find their own inspiration, how to develop that into a compelling idea, and some tools they can use to turn that idea into a song that moves people. Benji weaves live performances with practical tips to leave students inspired to create their own hit songs.
Martha Jackson – Podcasting. Martha Jackson is the host of The Bubble Lounge Podcast, a hyper-local media platform spotlighting the people, stories, and businesses that shape the Park Cities. Named 2025 University Park Citizen of the Year, Martha is a late-blooming creator who launched the podcast without a roadmap—learning by doing, saying “yes,” and building confidence along the way. With more than 300 episodes, she has interviewed everyone from students and athletes to entrepreneurs and community leaders. At LitFest, Martha shares the behind-the-scenes realities of creating content, overcoming self-doubt, and why you don’t need to be fearless—or perfect—to start something meaningful.
Workshop – Behind the Mic: Confidence, Creativity, and the Courage to Start. Presented by Martha Jackson, host of The Bubble Lounge Podcast, this session goes behind the scenes of building a successful podcast for Highland Park. Martha shares how confidence, creativity, and consistency turn ideas into impact and why starting before you feel ready matters.
Matt Lyle – Playwriting & Writing. Matt Lyle is a playwright and comedy writer living in Dallas, Texas. He’s a graduate of the Second City Training program and was the host and head writer for The City Life Supplement, named a Top 5 Comedy Show in Chicago (NEWCITY 2013). His sketches have been seen in Dallas in A Brief Endless Love at the Dallas Comedy House, Gold, Frankincense and Credit Card Debt in Theatre Too, Most Likely Forever Yours at the Wyly Theater, and Adulthood: or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Ken Burns at FunHouse Theater and Film. He has a number of published plays that are produced around the country.
Workshop – You Are Way Funnier Than ChatGPT. This workshop focuses on what makes you and your friends laugh and how to turn that into something that makes complete strangers laugh. We’ll talk all things funny and then dive into creating some easy, fun examples. NOTE: This is a workshop, not a lecture so participation is required. But it’s fun. Please come prepared to talk about what makes you laugh and why it makes you laugh.
Katherine McMahon – Fiction. K.E. Davenport graduated from HPHS in 2000 and went on to study film, storytelling, and animation at NYU and later The University of Texas. She worked as a distance learning coordinator, a controller for JP Morgan, a home remodeler, and a teacher before becoming a full-time author. She has also volunteered as an animal rescuer, transporting and fostering animals on behalf of local shelters and running the social media for one of her favorite rescue groups. During the last five years, K.E. has immersed herself in learning the world of independent publishing while releasing her science fantasy trilogy: The Moon Travelers. Currently, she’s in the process of developing a new fantasy series which will be released soon.
Workshop – The Creative World of Publishing: Choose Your Own Adventure. Students will learn about traditional publishing and self-publishing while playing a “choose your own adventure” game. The focus will be on the different creative roles that exist within the publishing world.
Ben Montgomery – Nonfiction. Ben Montgomery is author of the New York Times-bestselling Grandma Gatewood’s Walk, winner of a 2014 Outdoor Book Award, The Leper Spy, The Man Who Walked Backward, and A Shot in the Moonlight. He spent most of his 20 year newspaper career as an enterprise reporter for the Tampa Bay Times. He helped launch the Auburn Chautauqua, a Southern writers collective. In 2010, he was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in local reporting and won the Dart Award and Casey Medal for a series called “For Their Own Good,” about abuse at Florida’s oldest reform school. Montgomery grew up in Oklahoma and studied journalism at Arkansas Tech University, where he played defensive back for the football team, the Wonder Boys. He worked for the Courier in Russellville, Ark., the Standard-Times in San Angelo, Texas, the Times Herald-Record in New York’s Hudson River Valley and the Tampa Tribune before joining the Times in 2006. He is a writing coach and charter boat captain in Tampa.
Workshop – You Need To Calm Down: What Taylor Swift Can Teach Us About Storytelling. It’s not just glimmer and lipstick. Tay (& Co.) has developed a skill for isolating what we’ll call “balcony moments,” those pregnant scenes before stars collide that are so much fun to wait for. We’ll talk about how to find these moments in real life and use them in journalism. PLUS: the value of *bad blood, the import of *blank space, *gorgeous prose, swift drafting, and more!
Taylor Moore – Fiction. Taylor Moore is the author of Cold Trail, Ricochet, Firestorm, and Down Range, which was nominated for the Barry Award for Best First Novel, named a Strand Magazine Best Mystery of 2021, and selected for the Texas Library Association’s Lariat Reading List. He is a sixth-generation Texan who grew up on a farm and ranch northwest of Houston and is a former CIA Intelligence Officer who worked in both analysis and operations and later consulted for the Department of Defense on military intelligence issues. He now lives in the Texas Panhandle with his wife and two children, where he is a full-time author and screenwriter.
Workshop – Your Setting is a Character. A setting is more than just a scene or location, it’s a stage where your characters will jump out of the pages and come to life. And the right setting is a catalyst for conflict, which is an absolute necessity in any great work of fiction. This workshop will provide students with the tools to infuse physical, spiritual, and emotional characteristics into their novels and screenplays through vivid description, historical context, and world building.
Cary Pierce – Songwriting. An HP Dad, Cary is a Grammy-Nominated Songwriter, Performer and Producer. His songs and co-writes have been streamed over 40 million times, and he’s had record & publishing deals with Universal, Capitol and Warner Brothers. He’s toured the world and shared stages with John Mayer, Dave Matthews Band, and many others. He has appeared on Conan O’Brien and countless other national and local TV shows and has written songs with artists as diverse as Katy Perry and Chris Tomlin. Cary & Jack O’Neill founded the band Jackopierce as SMU theater majors. After spending 5 years relentlessly recording and releasing music and touring the country, they were signed to major label A&M Records. For 37 years now, Jackopierce has toured the world in 48 states and 10 countries on 3 continents and sold over 500,000 albums and tens of millions of streams. They play about 50 shows a year coast to coast. He lives in Dallas with his HP grad wife Cara and three HP boys: Jordan ‘19, Jaron ‘26 and Elijah ‘28.
Workshop – “40 Million Streams Later” – How I Wrote Songs, Got Signed, & Toured the World. Ever wonder how a song gets written? Recorded? Released? And streamed millions of times? Want to be entertained by a guy who’s played 2,000+ shows to millions of people all over the world? I’ll bring my guitar, sing some songs, and talk about my 37+ year career in the music biz. I’ll talk about what’s working and what’s not – especially in this “New Music Business” where social media has become almost as important as the music itself. Maybe you’ll be in our next post!
Nellie Sciutto – Nonfiction. Nellie is an actor/author/writer/producer/news correspondent. She is a founding host of The Bubble Lounge and her newest podcast based on her book, 50 Moments. She has a long resume in New York and Hollywood as an actor and a news correspondent who has covered everything from the Farrah Fawcett Foundation’s annual Tex-Mex Fiesta to the Academy Awards to the Telluride Film Festival, working for KTLA, CBS 11, and the Dallas Express News. Recently, after working on it for several years, a story that she found right here in Dallas has become a docuseries on AMC and the Sundance Channel and Amazon. Education: B.A. and M.A. from Yale University.
Workshop – Steps in Making and Selling a Documentary Based on a Story that You Choose. Learn the steps to take in creating a documentary or docuseries based on a story that you find fascinating. I’ll review my docuseries, The Tailor of Sin City, as an example of the 5 steps to take to get your story of interest started, completed, and into the television, film, and festival circuits. We will review: development, pre-production, production, post-production, and distribution in an interactive environment that teaches the basics of storytelling.
Ronell Smith – Visual Storytelling, Blogging, & Nonfiction. Ronell Smith is the founder of Narrative Alchemy and a former Southlake City Councilman with 25 years of experience advising media, tech, and business leaders. He helps leaders build defensible narratives for high-stakes decisions.
Workshop 1 – Narrative Intelligence: Seeing What the Algorithm Misses. Great storytelling isn’t about fancy words; it’s about seeing the world clearly. AI models are trained on the past, but human writers live in the present. This workshop introduces “Narrative Diagnosis” – the ability to observe a room, a situation, or a conflict and identify the story data alone cannot reveal.
Workshop 2 – The Anti-Algorithm: Creating Content AI Can’t Copy. Large Language Models have read the entire internet, but they cannot read your mind. In an age where content is cheap and infinite, the only thing that holds value is original perspective. This workshop moves beyond basic blogging to teach the foundations of thoughtful, responsible digital writing. Students will learn how to identify their unique insights, form defensible opinions, and write pieces that add new value rather than recycling what already exists. We focus on the three things AI can’t do: specific lived experience, disciplined judgment, and informed foresight. The goal is clarity, originality, and trust—not clicks.
Workshop 3 – The Editor’s Mindset: Beating AI at Its Own Game. AI generates text; humans generate insight. In a world where tools can write an essay in seconds, the most valuable skill is no longer writing—it is editing, verifying, and curating. This workshop treats students like Editors-in-Chief. We will take AI-generated content and dismantle it, learning how to inject the human elements—lived experience, ethical judgment, and specific observation—that machines cannot replicate. Students will work hands-on to revise AI-generated passages, strengthening accuracy, voice, and credibility. Stop competing with the robot; learn to be its boss. Ideal for aspiring journalists who value truth over speed.
Mallary Tenore Tarpley – Nonfiction & Journalism. Mallary Tenore Tarpley is a journalism professor at the University of Texas at Austin. Her new book, SLIP, explores the under-discussed complexities of eating disorders and recovery from them. The book, which is equal parts memoir and journalism, weaves together Mallary’s own narrative with perspectives from clinicians, researchers, and others with lived experience. Mallary received a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to support the science-related reporting in the book. Previously, Mallary was the associate director of UT Austin’s Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas; executive director of the nonprofit Images & Voices of Hope; and managing editor at The Poynter Institute for Media Studies. Mallary’s articles have been published in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, and TIME Magazine, among other publications. She also has a weekly newsletter, Write at the Edge, featuring writing tips and best practices.
Workshop 1 – How to Manage Writer’s Block and Procrastination. In this workshop, we’ll look at how to deal with moments when you come up against writer’s block and procrastination. These are inevitable parts of the writing process, and they’re not something you “overcome” so much as manage. We’ll explore strategies for how to do this and how to get “unstuck” when working on a writing project.
Workshop 2 – How to Handle Rejection. Also, rejection is par for the course as a writer, but that doesn’t make it any easier to handle. In this workshop, you’ll learn what to do when your writing or creative idea gets rejected. You’ll develop practical strategies for handling rejection and for turning a “no” into a “yes” down the road.
Workshop 3 – How to be a Better Self-Editor. Learning how to edit your own writing is an essential skill no matter what you’re studying or what field you’re working in. In this workshop, you’ll learn why this skillset is so important, common mistakes to avoid, and practical self-editing tips and tricks that will make your writing shine.
Kurt Voelker – Screenwriting. Kurt Voelker grew up in Dallas and went to graduate film school at USC. He has since written feature screenplays for Warner Bros, Paramount, Disney, Fox, Sony, MTV Films, Screen Gems, and more. His work includes the Warner Bros release Sweet November, starring Charlize Theron and Keanu Reeves, and Lionsgate/Huayi Brothers’ animated feature Rock Dog. Kurt also wrote and directed the award-winning, independent features Park and The Bachelors, starring J.K. Simmons and Julie Delpy. He is currently writing a limited series about Mary Wollstonecraft and a feature film about Olympic speed skater Irving Jaffee and is developing an ensemble series called Sugar Daddy. He is also attached to direct the feature film Scratch.
Workshop – Great Screenwriting/A Case Study: Good Will Hunting. In 1997, Good Will Hunting (Matt Damon, Ben Affleck and Robin Williams) touched a chord with audiences with a story that was honest, graceful, and filled with both subtle humor and raw emotion. The film went on to win the Oscar for Best Screenplay. In this interactive workshop, we will discuss the screenwriting behind the movie and why that award was very much deserved. It is highly recommended that attendees watch the film ahead of time, but it is not required.
Glenna Whitley – Nonfiction & Journalism. Glenna is an award-winning investigative reporter. Whitley’s work has appeared in numerous publications, including The Dallas Morning News, D Magazine, Dallas Observer, Glamour, Ladies Home Journal, More, The New York Times, Texas Monthly, Penthouse, Reader’s Digest, Redbook, Town & Country, and many more. She is co-author of Stolen Valor, a non-fiction book published in 1998 about the Vietnam War. The book received the 2000 William E. Colby Award for non-fiction writing on military affairs. It received acclaim from news outlets as diverse as ABC’s 20/20, NPR’s This American Life with Ira Glass, and Naval Proceedings, and popularized the phrase “stolen valor” to describe military pretenders. She has discussed her stories on numerous television programs such as Dateline, NBC News, The Hunt with Jon Walsh, ESPN’s 30 for 30 documentary series, Snapped, and Discovery Investigates. Whitley is a graduate of Texas A&M University, where she earned a degree in journalism.
Workshop – Writing True Crime: From the Investigation to the Page. What makes a good true crime story? What tools do you need to investigate what really happened? How do you get people–victims, law enforcement, perpetrators–to talk to you? Once you know the facts, how do you tell the tale in a compelling manner? The tips are the same whether you are writing on the page or doing a podcast.
Rusty Williams – Writing. Author Rusty Williams writes about history through the stories of the people who lived it. He is the author of six nonfiction books, five on Texas topics. His latest book, Texas Loud, Proud, and Brash: How Ten Mavericks Created the Twentieth-Century Lone Star State (Rowman & Littlefield) tells how Texas earned its outsized reputation. Deadly Dallas: A History of Unfortunate Incidents and Grisly Fatalities (The History Press) is recommended as a “must-read for anyone who approaches Dallas history with a sense of humor, however dark.” Rusty is also the author of Red River Bridge War: A Texas-Oklahoma Border Battle (Texas A&M Press), winner of the Oklahoma Book Award, and My Old Confederate Home: A Respectable Place for Civil War Veterans (University Press of Kentucky), honored with the Douglas S. Freeman Southern History Award. Rusty regularly speaks on historical topics nationwide and writes articles for magazines and journals.
Workshop – ‘Something’s Happening Here’ — Situational Awareness for the Professional Writer. Whether you write romance, mystery, memoir, or poetry, you’ll want to populate your written world with the scents and sounds of the real one. If you’re a newswriter, staring at a camera and speaking into a mic, or pounding away at a keyboard in the stadium pressroom, your stories will be fresher and more memorable if you salt them with sensory words and facts.
Karl Wimer – Visual Storytelling. Karl Wimer is an award-winning cartoonist and illustrator, published in books, magazines, and newspapers across five continents. Karl’s been a syndicated cartoonist for WoodyPaige.com, Mile High Sports Magazine, Denver Business Journal, and Central European Business Weekly. His cartoons have won multiple 1st Place Awards (Society of Professional Journalists, Colorado Press Association, and others) and have been featured extensively in the Best US Editorial Cartoons of the Year, in USA Today, NPR, Fox News, and in economics textbooks. Karl’s background (BA History/Yale, MBA/Kellogg, Graduate Degree/London School Economics), business experience (30 years as a successful marketing executive), sports bona fides (2-sport college athlete: football, All-America in lacrosse, successful coach at many levels), and international interest (several years living and working in places as varied as Prague and Bangkok), all emerge in his art.
Workshop – Editorial Cartoons & Illustration: Visual Storytelling For Our Times. Editorial cartoons and illustrations have for centuries provided an engaging alternative for commenting on the issues of the day, and when done right deliver real impact. This workshop will provide students with a broad understanding of the world of editorial cartoons and illustration, including historical context and recent implications, rounded out by some hands-on cartooning. Areas covered: – A short history of the craft, illustrated by examples leading to where the field stands today. – The many challenges of being a cartoonist/illustrator in today’s ever-evolving media landscape. – How visual storytelling can drive businesses and other organizations. – Attendees will be taught creative tools in an interactive cartooning session.
Joaquin Zihuatanejo – Poetry. Joaquín Zihuatanejo was the Inaugural Poet Laureate for the city of Dallas. In 2023, he was awarded a $50,000 Laureate Fellow Prize by the Academy of American Poets in honor of the outstanding work he did working with youth poets in his city, Dallas, Texas. Joaquín is the author of Arsonist, Occupy Whiteness, and the forthcoming IMMIGRANT, which will be published by Deep Vellum Publishing in the fall of 2026.
Workshop – Hybrid Erasures: What They Are, How They Work & Why I Had to Create Them. In this interactive, generative workshop, students will look at the hybrid erasure form with poet and author, Joaquín Zihuatanejo. He will define the form for students and then challenge them to think of approaching poetry in an odd and daring way. In doing so, they may just craft a poem that will change the world. Sound intimidating? Trust us…it won’t be, as two-time World Poetry Slam champion, Joaquín Zihuatanejo, is there to guide you all along the way.
HP LitFest would like to thank HP Arts & PC Tag for sponsoring our Student Workshop Day.
