As writers ourselves, we know how invigorating and inspiring it can be to hear from successful genre writers who have found a way to finish their drafts and get their projects into the hearts and minds of readers far and wide. Benjamin Percy may have started in the literary fiction space, but he’s always written with the idea of “thrilling his readers” with his recent comics writing including Wolverine and his science fiction Comet Cycle novel series, to his most recent horror novella, Bystanders. Benjamin has written from wide-ranging genres and concepts, and he continues to stretch his idea of thrilling fiction.
It is our pleasure and honor to introduce our submitters and followers with an opportunity to hear our keynote speaker Benjamin Percy talk about writing in multiple genres, how to keep a reader interested, and how he comes up with his inventive hooks. There will also be time for Q&A afterward!
Registration is open from June 18 to July 18, 2025.
Please join us for an inspiring and creative night with Benjamin Percy on July 30, 2025, from 7:00-8:30 pm. EDT or 4:00-5:30 pm PDT
Cost: $10
Benjamin Percy is the author of seven novels, the most recent among them The Sky Vault (William Morrow, 2023). He is also the author of The Unfamiliar Garden (Mariner Books/William Morrow, 2022), The Ninth Metal (Mariner Books, 2021), The Dead Lands (Grand Central/Hachette, 2015), Red Moon (Grand Central/Hachette, 2013) and The Wilding (Graywolf Press, 2010), as well as three books of short stories, Suicide Woods (Graywolf Press, 2019), Refresh, Refresh (Graywolf Press, 2007) and The Language of Elk (Grand Central/Hachette, 2012; Carnegie Mellon University Press, 2006).
His craft book — Thrill Me: Essays on Fiction — was published by Graywolf Press in 2016 and is now widely taught in creative writing classrooms.
He broke in to comics in 2014, with a two-issue Batman story arc for Detective Comics. He is known for his celebrated runs on Nightwing, Green Arrow, Teen Titans, and James Bond. He currently writes Wolverine, X-Force, and Ghost Rider for Marvel Comics. He also writes Devil’s Highway and Year Zero for AWA Studios.
He co-wrote the feature film, Summering, with director James Ponsoldt. Produced by Bleeker Street and Sony’s Stage 3, it made its debut at the Sundance Film Festival and will go into wide-release this summer.
He wrote two, ten-episode seasons of the audio drama “Wolverine,” which are presently streaming now on all podcast apps. “The Long Night” was listed as one of the top 15 podcasts of the year by Apple and won the iHeart Radio Award for best scripted podcast in 2018. His latest podcast is Wastelanders: Old Man Starlord (produced by Marvel and SiriusXM/Pandora), a post-apocalyptic take on the Guardians of the Galaxy that stars Timothy Busfield, Chris Elliot, Vanessa Williams, and Danny Glover.
His honors include a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Whiting Writers’ Award, two Pushcart Prizes, the Plimpton Prize, a McKnight fellowship, and inclusion in Best American Short Stories and Best American Comics. And his story “Refresh, Refresh” was included in 100 Years of the Best American Short Stories.
He is a member of the WGA screenwriters’ guild and has sold scripts to Paramount, FOX, Sony, and Starz. He currently has several film and TV projects in development.
He is a regular on the lecture circuit and has taught extensively, including at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, the Breadloaf Writers’ Conference, the Tin House Writers’ Workshop, Aspen Summer Words, and the Paris Writing Workshop. His class on Skillshare is available at this link: : http://skl.sh/benpercy