Fifty Finalists Participate in 12th Annual Festival Masters Workshop

Fifty writers participated in the twelfth Masters Workshop on March 11th and 12th, a highlight and culmination of the 2024 Tucson Festival of Books. 

This year's participants consisted of top finalists selected from over 600 submissions to the festival's annual Literary Awards Competition, which features fiction, nonfiction, and poetry categories. Literary Awards entries came from across the nation and globe, including 18 states from North Carolina to Oregon and international submissions from Canada, Europe, and the Caribbean region. 

The Masters Workshop features master classes by festival authors who lead craft talks and work with authors in small-group manuscript workshops. “The selection of instructors with diverse backgrounds, experience, and publishing perspectives added a lot to the experience” stated one participant.

“I loved my workshop. So much great work from the students!" shared "Our Migrant Souls" author and masters workshop faculty Héctor Tobar. 

In addition to the annual Masters Workshop, first place winners Monika Gupta (Fiction), Lindsey Pharr (Nonfiction) and Sean Webb (Poetry), were featured in a winners' panel during festival weekend; each having an opportunity to share excerpts from their winning pieces. Learn more about this year's top Literary Awards writers here.

The next round of the annual Tucson Festival of Books Literary Awards Competition will open this Fall. 

Thank You To Our 2024 Masters Workshop Faculty!

Aaliyah Bilal

Tim Z. Hernandez

Jean Kwok

David Lipsky

Héctor Tobar