2005 Summer Writer’s Conferences: Taos Summer Writers’ Conference
April 25, 2005
Taos Summer Writers’ Conference
When:
July 9 - 15
Where:
Taos, New Mexico
English-born writer D.H. Lawrence first traveled to Taos in 1922 at the invitation of Mabel Dodge Luhan. In the 11 months he spent there, over the course of three separate visits, he arrived at a keen understanding of the compelling nature of this landscape. Now, years after Lawrence first set eyes on the dramatic sweep of northern New Mexico, it continues to be a powerful draw for countless artists and writers. Thus, part of the key to the conference’s success lies in the ability of Taos itself to bring people together in the force of its beauty’s impact. Indeed, participants have been known to arrive in this little town a full week before the conference begins, filling their days with museums, galleries, restaurants and vistas that are Taos’ trademarks. Even after the start of the conference, writers can be found using their free time to explore its riches, among them the ranch where Lawrence himself lived and worked and where his ashes purportedly lie. Lawrence’s widow Frieda gave the ranch to UNM in 1955, eight months prior to her own death. She stipulated that it be used for educational, cultural, and recreational purposes. Nothing could fit this bill better than the conference Sharon Oard Warner directs.
What:
We have designed our Conference both for working writers and for people getting started on their writing. Our weekend and week-long workshops offer intensive instruction balanced with ample free time. To create the right mixture of group support and individual attention, each workshop is limited to twelve participants. Experienced writers will find peers and mentors here, and beginners can explore a variety of new forms. We invite you to take a week away from the demands of your “regular” life - come to Taos, and feed the artist within.
A published novelist and the head of the University of New Mexico’s creative writing program, Sharon Oard Warner herself is no stranger to these writerly gatherings. She has attended, as a contributing writer and as faculty, places like Bread Loaf in Vermont and the Iowa Summer Writing Festival. As founder and director of the Taos Summer Writers’ Conference, Warner drew on her experiences with other such programs in developing her own. Despite her affiliations with UNM, the conference is its own entity financially. Spiritually, it transcends the walls of the university. It remains important to its founder that the essence of this gathering reaches out to “serve the writing community in New Mexico to the greatest possible degree.” But as a cornerstone in this effort lies a distinct conference philosophy that attracts writers from not only all over the U.S., but Canada, Taiwan and West Africa. It begins with place.
Who:
Amy Beeder
Sophy Burnham
Maureen McCoy
Sean Murphy
Loida Maritza Pérez
Levi Romero
Wendy Weil
Kathleen Alcalá
Andrea Hollander Budy
Pam Houston
Matthew McDuffie
Antonya Nelson
Diane Thiel
Jeff Davis
Greg Martin
Daniel Mueller
Lisa Tucker
John Dufresne
Lisa D. Chávez
Web:
http://www.unm.edu/~taosconf/
2005 Summer Writer’s Conferences: Tin House Summer Writers Workshop
April 25, 2005
Tin House Summer Writers Workshop
When:
July 9-16
Where:
The Tin House Summer Writers Workshop is held at Reed College, located on 100 acres of rolling lawns, winding lanes, and magnificent old trees in the southeast area of Portland, Oregon, just minutes from downtown and twelve miles from the airport. Praised as one of the best big cities in the United States by Money Magazine and most livable city by Travel and Leisure, Portland offers a vibrant art scene, superb dining, and excellent public transportation. More importantly for writers, Portland is home to Powell’s, the largest independent bookstore in the world.
What:
The Tin House Summer Writers Workshop is a weeklong intensive of workshops, seminars, panels, and readings led by the editors of Tin House magazine and Tin House Books and their guests–prominent contemporary American writers of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. The program combines morning workshops with afternoon craft seminars and career panels. Evenings are reserved for author readings. Tin House editors and guest agents are available to meet individually with students throughout the week. For students who have completed a collection of stories or poems, a memoir, or a novel, one-on-one mentorships are available with select faculty and staff for an additional fee
Who:
Special Guests
Denis Johnson
Francine Prose
Fiction
Dorothy Allison
Jonathan Ames
Aimee Bender
Kevin Canty
Charles D’Ambrosio
Jeanne McCulloch
Chris Offutt
Elissa Schappell
Poetry
Matthea Harvey
Brenda Shaughnessy
Memoir
Nick Flynn
Agents
Joy Harris
Bonnie Nadell
Amy Williams
Web:
http://www.tinhouse.com/workshop/index.html
2005 Summer Writer’s Conferences: Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference
April 25, 2005
Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference
When:
August 17-28
Where:
Middlebury, Vermont
Bread Loafers are housed on the mountain campus of Middlebury College, in the Bread Loaf Inn and its cluster of cottages and buildings. Most rooms are doubles; baths are shared. We make every effort to ensure that roommates will be compatible, and in fact, some lifelong friendships have developed between Bread Loaf roommates.
What:
Writing workshops in fiction, poetry, and nonfiction are the core of the curriculum. Each faculty member conducts a small workshop, most often of ten contributors, meeting for five two-hour sessions over the course of the Conference. All participants also meet individually with their workshop leader to amplify and refine what was said in the workshop itself.
Faculty give lectures on writerly issues, and one-hour classes on specific aspects of craft. Readings by faculty, guests, and contributors are scheduled in the Little Theater throughout the day and into the night.
We offer many opportunities for you to inform yourself about the world of publishing. Early in the Conference, guest editors and agents give overviews of the industry, describing the functions of agents and literary editors, answering questions, and offering guidelines on how to submit book proposals and full-length manuscripts. You may sign up to meet with an editor or agent in small groups.
Magazine editors, publicists, grant specialists, and other guests offer a range of presentations on topics related to publishing.
Who:
Nonfiction
Patricia Hampl
Susan Orlean
Poetry
Michael Collier
Edward Hirsch
Brigit Pegeen Kelly
Yusef Komunyakaa
Tom Sleigh
Ellen Bryant Voigt
Fiction
Andrea Barrett
Charles Baxter
Vikram Chandra
Lan Samantha Chang
Percival Everett
Lynn Freed
Amy Hempel
Thomas Mallon
Claire Messud
Jay Parini
Special Guests
John Elder
Francine Prose
Barry Sanders
Gerald Stern
Agents and Editors
Richard Abate, Literary Agent, International Creative Management
Miriam Altshuler, President, Miriam Altshuler Literary Agency
André Bernard, Editor-in-Chief of Harcourt Brace
Judy Clain, Senior Editor, Little, Brown and Company
John Donatich, Director, Yale University Press
Ted Genoways, Editor, Virginia Quarterly Review
Esmond Harmsworth, Literary Agent, Zachary Shuster Harmsworth Agency
M.M.M. Hayes, Editor and Publisher, StoryQuarterly
Amy Holman, Literary Consultant
T.R. Hummer, Editor, The Georgia Review
Carolyn Kuebler, Managing Editor, New England Review
Betsy Lerner, Literary Agent, The Gernert Company
Fiona McCrae, Editor-in-Chief, Graywolf Press
Heidi Pitlor, Editor, Houghton Mifflin Co.
Martha Rhodes, Director, Four Way Books
Denise Roy, Senior Editor, Simon & Schuster
Janet Silver, Vice President and Editor-in-Chief, Houghton Mifflin Co.
Carol Houck Smith, Editor-at-Large, W.W. Norton
C. Dale Young, Poetry Editor, New England Review
Web:
http://www.middlebury.edu/academics/blwc
2005 Summer Writer’s Conferences: Hassayampa Institute for Creative Writing
April 25, 2005
Hassayampa Institute for Creative Writing
When:
July 25-29
Where:
Located in the cool pines of Prescott, Arizona. Co-sponsored by Yavapai College and Sharlot Hall Museum.
What:
A summer gathering of writers and poets for five days of intensive writing, conversation, panels and readings that will enrich your own work.
Co-sponsored by Yavapai College and Sharlot Hall Museum, the Hassayampa Institute for Creative Writing holds a week-long conference in the cool pines of Prescott, Arizona every July. The conference is designed to develop and hone literary skills, as well as foster community among writers.
Heavily influenced by its setting in the Southwest, the conference allows participants to work with nationally-recognized authors in a professional by informal setting that includes morning workshops, afternoon panels and discussions devoted to broader cultural issues, and evening readings in which featured authors share their work.
These events reflect the various aspects of the writing experience, from the nuts-to-bolts process of setting words on the page to the social impact of certain subjects, to the sheer pleasure of literature. Perhaps most importantly, the Hasayampa Institute limits enrollment to no more than 100 people, providing an intimate atmosphere for participant to interact with other writers.
Who:
Poetry
Kim Addonizio
Jim Simmerman
Fiction
Melissa Pritchard
Mary Sojourner
Non-Fiction
William Kittredge
Fiction & Poetry using Oral Tradition as a Resource
Simon Ortiz
Manuscript Consultation
Laraine Herring
Agents & Editors
Carol Houck Smith, Editor, W.W. Norton
Joanne O’Hare, University of Nevada Press
Katharine Sands, Literary Agent
Web:
http://www.yc.edu/hassayampa.nsf
2005 Summer Writer’s Conferences: Juniper Summer Writing Institute
April 25, 2005
Juniper Summer Writing Institute
When:
June 5-10
Where:
Amherst and Northampton offer a wealth of museums, libraries, restaurants, cinemas, independent bookstores, and live music. They are home to The National Yiddish Book Center, The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, Emily Dickinson Homestead, and Smith College Museum of Art, among many other cultural attractions. Lakes, rivers, biking and hiking trails, and nature preserves are easily accessible. The neighboring Berkshires offer world-renowned performances at Tanglewood, Jacob’s Pillow, and Mass MOCA.
What:
At the heart of the Institute are intensive workshops in poetry and fiction. Specializing in one genre and working closely with a core group of readers, participants generate new work and revise work in progress. Enrollment in each workshop is limited so that every writer has multiple opportunities to present his or her work.
In addition to workshops, each day offers an interactive craft session during which participants discuss with Faculty and Writers in Residence issues ranging from artistic inspiration and technique to the nuts and bolts of manuscript preparation and publishing. Communal meals and open-mic readings invite cross-pollination among writers. Each evening features readings of new work by acclaimed Institute Faculty and Writers in Residence. The daily schedule also offers free time for writing, relaxing, and enjoying the many charms of the Pioneer Valley.
Who:
Poetry:
Mark Doty
Dara Wier
Matthew Zapruder
Fiction
Grace Paley
Amy Hempel
Christine Schutt
Writers In Residence
James Tate
Peter Gizzi
Sabina Murray
Matthea Harvey
Kelly Link
Michael Kimball
