Community of Writers

The Community of Writers offers workshops in poetry from June 22 to June 28 and in fiction and nonfiction (including creative nonfiction) from July 10 to July 17 in Olympic Valley, near Lake Tahoe in California’s Sierra Nevada. The program features workshops, craft talks, publishing panels, readings, and one-on-one conferences with faculty. The faculty includes poets Kazim Ali, Ama Codjoe, Carmen Giménez, Brenda Hillman, Brian Teare, and Matthew Zapruder; fiction writers Mac (Marisa) Crane, Leslie Daniels, Tyler Dilts, Janet Fitch, Francisco Goldman, Katy Hays, Dana Johnson, Louis B. Jones, Dylan Landis, Michelle Latiolais, Krys Lee, Guadalupe Nettel, Peter Orner, Margaret Wilkerson Sexton, Gregory Spatz, Amy Tan, Josh Weil, and Monica West; fiction and nonfiction writers Sands Hall, Keenan Noris, and Héctor Tobar; and nonfiction writers Chris Feliciano Arnold, Samuel G. Freedman, Kelly McMasters, Jason Roberts, Julia Flynn Siler, and Bernice Yeung. Participating publishing professionals include editors Tara Parsons (Harper­Collins), Todd Portnowitz (Knopf), Andrew Tonkovich (Santa Monica Review and Citric Acid), Oscar Villalon (Zyzzyva), and Blaise Zerega (Alta Journal); and agents Michael V. Carlisle and Michael Mungiello (InkWell Management), Lucy Carson (Friedrich Agency), and BJ Robbins (BJ Robbins Literary Agency). Tuition, which includes some meals, is $1,725 for a poetry workshop and $1,850 for a prose workshop. Lodging is available in private or shared condos as well as nearby shared houses, ranging from $80 per night for a shared bunkroom in a house to $285 per night for a private one-bedroom condo; prices vary slightly for poetry and prose workshop attendees. Full-tuition scholarships and financial aid designated for underrepresented writers are available. To apply, submit four to five pages of poetry with a $35 application fee or up to 5,000 words of prose with a $40 application fee by March 10. Visit the website for an application form and complete guidelines.

Accessibility accommodations include accessible sidewalks, pathways, and doorways; accessible bathrooms; accessible parking; closed captioning for online programming; transcriptions of talks; venue signage in Braille; and interpretive listening devices (with advance request). Contact the executive director via phone or e-mail for additional accessibility details.