Community of Writers

The Community of Writers will offer workshops in poetry from June 19 to June 25, and in fiction, nonfiction, and memoir from July 10 to July 17 in Olympic Valley, near Lake Tahoe, in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California. The program features workshops, craft talks, publishing panels, readings, and one-on-one conferences with faculty. The faculty includes poets Kazim Ali, Victoria Chang, Forrest Gander, Carmen Giménez, Brenda Hillman, and Evie Shockley; fiction writers Lynn Freed, Molly Giles, Louis B. Jones, Dylan Landis, Devi Laskar, Kirstin Valdez Quade, Margaret Wilkerson Sexton, and Gregory Spatz; and fiction and nonfiction writers Lisa Alvarez, Chris Feliciano Arnold, Sands Hall, Vanessa Hua, Maceo Montoya, Keenan Norris, Peter Orner, Héctor Tobar, Andrew Tonkovich, and Claire Vaye Watkins. Special guests include poet Sharon Olds, poet and nonfiction writer Robert Hass, fiction writers Dana Johnson and Michelle Latiolais, and fiction and nonfiction writers Alex Espinoza and Amy Tan. Participating publishing professionals include editors Sally Kim (Penguin Random House), Mary Melton (Alta), Maceo Montoya (Huizache), Tara Parsons (HarperCollins), Andrew Tonkovich (Santa Monica Review), and Oscar Villalon (ZYZZYVA), and agents Miriam Altshuler (DeFiore & Company), Michael V. Carlisle (InkWell Management), and Peter Steinberg (Fletcher & Company). Tuition, which includes some meals, is $1,450 for a poetry workshop and $1,600 for a prose workshop. Lodging is available in nearby condos and shared houses ranging from $350 (poetry workshop participants) or $400 (prose workshop participants) for a shared room in a house to $1,650 for a private condo. Limited financial aid and scholarships are available, including scholarships for underrepresented writers. Using only the online application system, submit four to five pages of poetry with a $35 application fee by March 28; prose writers submitted up to 5,000 words with a $40 application fee by March 1. Visit the website for an application and complete guidelines.

Accessibility accommodations include accessible sidewalks, pathways, and doorways; ADA-compliant restrooms; accessible parking; closed-captioning for any media shown; text copies of talks; and signage in Braille. Interpretive listening devices are available upon request. Call the Community of Writers staff for additional accessibility details.