2026 Loon Writers Festival
October 9-11, 2026 in Detroit Lakes, MN
A writing festival for all writers: published writers, unpublished writers,
soon-to-be writers, and reader-writers.
If you love words, this festival is for you.
Guest Authors
Set in the beautiful lakes country of Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, the 2026 Loon Writers Festival will bring together authors, readers, and writers for a weekend devoted to those who string words together. If you are published, unpublished, or just curious about writing, we hope you'll join in the fun.
Workshops will focus on adult fiction, adult nonfiction, poetry, and cross-genre crafts.
Let's write, listen, support, eat, and drink together as a community.
Early bird on sale through August 31!
Limited tickets available to maintain intimacy and quality of workshops.
Loon Writers Festival Sponsors
What's Included in the Festival
Tickets include a Loon Writers tote bag, author readings, writing workshops, Friday evening appetizers, Saturday lunch, Saturday evening appetizers, and a light Sunday breakfast as we say farewell.
The weekend is designed to build community, so we hope you'll leave with a lifetime of writer friends.
See schedule and guest authors below!
Guest Authors
Lori O’Dea is a fiction writer, literary critic, and gallerist living in Chicago and northern Minnesota. She is the author of the literary novella Little Cavendish (August 2026). Her work appears in The Massachusetts Review, The Gay & Lesbian Review, LIBER, Bridge, and other publications. She is a graduate of St. John’s College, Santa Fe and holds an M.A. in English literature & creative writing from City College of New York, where she twice received the Stark Short Fiction Prize and was a nominee for Best New American Voices.
Dr. Anthony Albright is a Choctaw Veteran and writer living on the shores of the Mississippi River in Minnesota. His work has appeared in North Dakota Quarterly, Comstock Review, and Laurel Review. His forthcoming chapbook “The Distance that Isn’t Miles” has been selected as the winner of the Poetry of the Plains and Prairies Award and he recently won the John Cauble Award for his play, “Between Two Worlds.” He currently teaches Veteran Voices at University of California, Irvine and is the media editor for The Journal of Veterans Studies.
Jamie Parsely: is the author of 16 poems, most recently S/O/M/A (2025), a book of poems accompanied by paintings by artist Marjorie Schlossman. He has an MFA from Vermont College. He has served as an Associate Poet Laureate for the state of North Dakota, and currently serves as Resident Poet at Concordia College, Moorhead, Minnesota. He is also the author of a collection of short stories and recently edited the poems of poet Prudence Gearey Sand (1908-1984), Where All the Unremembered Shadows Die. Also, an Episcopal priest, he serves as Rector of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, Fargo.
Jamie Parsley: is the author of 16 poems, most recently S/O/M/A (2025), a book of poems accompanied by paintings by artist Marjorie Schlossman. He has an MFA from Vermont College. He has served as an Associate Poet Laureate for the state of North Dakota, and currently serves as Resident Poet at Concordia College, Moorhead, Minnesota. He is also the author of a collection of short stories and recently edited the poems of poet Prudence Gearey Sand (1908-1984), Where All the Unremembered Shadows Die. Also, an Episcopal priest, he serves as Rector of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, Fargo.
Randi Olsen Heinold Randi Olsen Heinold is a writer, TEDx speaker, and holistic wellness practitioner whose work explores how the rhythms of the natural world can inspire self-discovery, creativity, and wellbeing. She holds a BFA in Creative Writing from Utah State University and is the founder of Hemma Wellbeing. Through workshops and The Home Practice essays and podcast, she writes and teaches about living in alignment with your season of life and the seasons of nature. Randi lives in Fargo, ND, where she hosts in person and virtual gatherings that guide people in lifestyle and writing practices rooted in inner connection, compassion, and curiosity.