Course of Study

The daily schedule begins with morning workshops and continues in the afternoon with special topics classes, fellow and staff readings, craft lectures, and evening faculty readings. Each workshop consists of 12 participants and is led by two faculty members. Workshops meet five times, on alternating days, to form the core of the 12-day program. Writers also benefit from an hour-long individual meeting with a faculty member and a half-hour individual meeting with a fellow to discuss their manuscript in depth.

Workshop Faculty Pairings

FICTION
Adrianne Harun & Debra Magpie Earling
Maurice Carlos Ruffin & Jill McCorkle
Katie Kitamura & Michael Knight
Claire Messud & Chinelo Okparanta
Sarah Shun-lien Bynum & Luis Urrea

POETRY
Marianne Chan & Nate Marshall
Carl Phillips & Eduardo Corral
Caki Wilkinson & Felicia Zamora

NONFICTION
Alex Marzano-Lesnevich & Elena Passarello
Jaquira Díaz & Aisha Sabatini Sloan

PLAYWRITING
Nathan Alan Davis & Liliana Padilla
Brittany K. Allen & Cusi Cram
Professional actors will assist the playwriting workshop.

In addition to workshops, daily craft lectures will delve into writing techniques and challenges. Examples of craft lectures from previous year's conference include:

Camille Dungy, “The Trouble with Wilderness, or how to write about the wild world without coming off as a culturally disengaged loon”
Lacy M. Johnson, “Towards a New Nature Writing”
Holly Goddard Jones, “Mind the Gaps”
Vanessa Hua, “Model Minority Myth: What Does It Mean to Be a Solution?”
Dan O’Brien, “The Playwright’s Voice”
A. E. Stallings, "Rhyme Schemes"
Kirstin Valdez Quade, “Teetering at the Edge: On Sentimentality in Fiction”

We will also offer special topics classes taught by faculty, visitors, and fellows. Examples of special topics classes from previous year's conference include:

Eduardo C. Corral, “Writing and Structuring a First Book of Poems”
Vanessa Hua, “Craft Class: Revision Bootcamp”
Annie Hwang, “Queries about Queries”
Margaret Riley King and Sophie Cudd, “How to Find an Agent”
Maggie Su, “Developmental Edits in Short Prose (Fiction & NF)”
Caki Wilkinson, “The Art of the Very Short Poem”
Ginny Smith Younce, “What to Expect When You Work with a Publisher”
Renée Zuckerbrot, “How to Assemble a Short Story Collection … and Land an Agent and a Book Deal”