Genre: Creative Nonfiction

From a Distance

The Time Is Now
5.1.25

In a New Yorker interview about her short story “Marseille,” Ayşegül Savaş comments on a realization she made when putting together her story collection Long Distance, forthcoming from Bloomsbury in July: “Even though friendships are very important to my own life, I would still place marriage, or parents, or children at the center of my preoccupations. Then why do I write so much about friends?” Take a look through some of your past writing and try to locate any patterns of concerns that recur throughout different pieces, thus revealing your thematic priorities. Write an essay that muses on why these are primary concerns for you to explore creatively. How do your subjects influence your writing form and vice versa? Have themes evolved or shifted in big or small ways over the years?

Last Dreams

The Time Is Now
4.24.25

In the introduction to his translation of Egyptian author Naguib Mahfouz’s I Found Myself…the Last Dreams, forthcoming in June from New Directions, Hisham Matar writes: “It is clear that Mahfouz, the professed realist, admired dreams, coveted their agile and wandering narratives, their convincing and often unsettling psychological and emotional power, and, perhaps most of all, their economy: how, in an instant, a world is evoked that is—no matter how unlikely or strange—convincingly compelling.” Matar goes on to describe the book’s short vignettes in which Mahfouz recorded his dreams in the last decade of his life. “Almost each starts with ‘I saw myself’ or ‘I found myself.’ And isn’t that the case, that we find or see ourselves in dreams…?” Try your hand at recording your own dreams for a stretch of time, perhaps beginning each entry with “I found myself…” Experiment with arranging them in an order that makes sense to you, through any type of thematic, narrative, or dream logic.

Chuckanut Writers Conference

The 2025 annual Chuckanut Writers Conference, cohosted by the Narrative Project, Sidekick Press, and Village Books and Paper Dreams, was held on June 27 and June 28 at Sehome High School in Bellingham, Washington. The conference featured workshops in poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction, as well as keynote addresses, craft talks, author panels, an open mic, a faculty reading, and breakout sessions that combined lecture, discussion, and generative writing sessions.

Type: 
CONFERENCE
Ignore Event Date Field?: 
yes
Event Date: 
January 14, 2026
Rolling Admissions: 
ignore
Application Deadline: 
January 14, 2026
Financial Aid?: 
no
Financial Aid Application Deadline: 
January 14, 2026
Free Admission: 
no
Contact Information: 

Chuckanut Writers Conference, 2700 Bill McDonal Parkway, Bellingham, WA 98225.

Contact City: 
Bellingham
Contact State: 
WA
Contact Zip / Postal Code: 
98225
Country: 
US
Add Image: 
Genre: 
Poetry
Fiction
Creative Nonfiction

Anne LaBastille Memorial Writing Residency

May/June 2025

The Adirondack Center for Writing offered a two-week residency from September 21 to October 5 to six poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers at a lodge on Twitchell Lake in the Adirondack Mountains in New York. Three residents will be chosen from the Adirondack region and three will be chosen from anywhere else in the world. Residents are each provided with a private room and bathroom, work space, and meals. There is no cost to attend the residency, but residents are responsible for travel expenses to and from Twitchell Lake.

Type: 
RESIDENCY
Ignore Event Date Field?: 
yes
Event Date: 
January 14, 2026
Rolling Admissions: 
ignore
Application Deadline: 
January 14, 2026
Financial Aid?: 
no
Financial Aid Application Deadline: 
January 14, 2026
Free Admission: 
yes
Contact Information: 

Anne LaBastille Memorial Writing Residency, Adirondack Center for Writing, P.O. Box 956, Saranac Lake, NY 12983. (518) 354-1261. Nathalie Thill, Executive Director. 

Nathalie Thill
Executive Director
Contact City: 
Twitchell Lake
Contact State: 
NY
Contact Zip / Postal Code: 
12983
Country: 
US
Add Image: 
Genre: 
Poetry
Fiction
Creative Nonfiction

New York State Summer Writers Institute

May/June 2025

The 39th annual New York State Summer Writers Institute was held from June 22 to July 19 at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs. The program featured two- and four-week workshops in poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. The faculty included poets Peg Boyers, Henri Cole, Megan Fernandes, Sandra Lim, and Rosanna Warren; fiction writers Elizabeth Benedict, Adam Braver, Vinson Cunningham, Amy Hempel, Binnie Kirshenbaum, Claire Messud, Susan Minot, and Rick Moody; and creative nonfiction writers Phillip Lopate and Thomas Chatterton Williams.

Type: 
CONFERENCE
Ignore Event Date Field?: 
yes
Event Date: 
January 14, 2026
Rolling Admissions: 
yes
Application Deadline: 
January 14, 2026
Financial Aid?: 
no
Financial Aid Application Deadline: 
January 14, 2026
Free Admission: 
no
Contact Information: 

New York State Summer Writers Institute, Skidmore College, Office of Special Programs, 815 North Broadway, Saratoga Springs, NY 12866. (518) 580-5593. Christine Merrill, Senior Program Coordinator. 

Christine Merrill
Senior Program Coordinator
Contact City: 
Saratoga Springs
Contact State: 
NY
Contact Zip / Postal Code: 
12866
Country: 
US
Genre: 
Poetry
Fiction
Creative Nonfiction

Salty Quill Writers’ Retreat for Women

May/June 2025

The Salty Quill Writers’ Retreat for Women offers one-week residencies three times a year to twelve poets, fiction writers, nonfiction writers, and translators who identify as women at McGee Island, a 110-acre private island located three miles east of Port Clyde, Maine. Residents are provided with lodging at a turn-of-the-century oceanfront summer cottage in single- or shared-occupancy rooms, three chef-prepared meals a day, transportation to and from the island, and the opportunity to participate in after-dinner readings and critiques as well as kayaking, hiking, and taking a sauna.

Type: 
RESIDENCY
Ignore Event Date Field?: 
yes
Event Date: 
January 14, 2026
Rolling Admissions: 
ignore
Application Deadline: 
January 14, 2026
Financial Aid?: 
no
Financial Aid Application Deadline: 
January 14, 2026
Free Admission: 
no
Contact Information: 

Salty Quill Writers’ Retreat for Women, 11 Willow Street, Hull, MA 02045. Pamela Loring, Cofounder and Program Director. 

Pamela Loring
Cofounder and Program Director
Contact City: 
McGee Island
Contact State: 
ME
Country: 
US
Genre: 
Poetry
Fiction
Creative Nonfiction
Translation

Loghaven Artist Residency

May/June 2025

Loghaven offers residencies of two to six weeks year-round to poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers in five rehabilitated historic log cabins and newly built facilities on ninety acres of woodland in Knoxville, Tennessee. The residency includes an $850 weekly stipend for supplies and expenses, a travel subsidy on a sliding scale from $400 to $800, and up to $200 in reimbursement for shipping materials.

Type: 
RESIDENCY
Ignore Event Date Field?: 
yes
Event Date: 
January 14, 2026
Rolling Admissions: 
ignore
Application Deadline: 
January 14, 2026
Financial Aid?: 
no
Financial Aid Application Deadline: 
January 14, 2026
Free Admission: 
yes
Contact Information: 

Loghaven Artist Residency, 1001 Loghaven Drive, Knoxville, TN 37920. (865) 617-0353.

Contact City: 
Knoxville
Contact State: 
TN
Contact Zip / Postal Code: 
37920
Country: 
US
Genre: 
Poetry
Fiction
Creative Nonfiction

Calabash International Literary Festival

May/June 2025

The Calabash International Literary Festival was held from May 23 to May 25 at the Jack Sprat restaurant and bar in the fishing village of Treasure Beach, Jamaica. Programming included author readings, panels, and live music events.

Type: 
FESTIVAL
Ignore Event Date Field?: 
yes
Event Date: 
January 14, 2026
Rolling Admissions: 
ignore
Application Deadline: 
January 14, 2026
Financial Aid?: 
no
Financial Aid Application Deadline: 
January 14, 2026
Free Admission: 
yes
Contact Information: 

Calabash International Literary Festival, 2A Bamboo Avenue #4, Kingston 6, Jamaica. Justine Henzell, Cofounder and Festival Producer.

Justine Henzell
Cofounder and Festival Producer
Contact City: 
Treasure Beach
Country: 
JM
Add Image: 
Genre: 
Poetry
Fiction
Creative Nonfiction

Gell Writing Residency

May/June 2025

The Gell Writing Residency, sponsored by Writers & Books, offers one- to three-week residencies year-round to poets, fiction writers, creative nonfiction writers, and translators at Gell: A Finger Lakes Creative Retreat in Naples, New York, situated on 24 acres in the Bristol Mountain foothills. Residents are provided with a renovated cottage with two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a modern kitchen, a spacious living and dining area with a writing nook, and an outdoor deck.

Type: 
RESIDENCY
Ignore Event Date Field?: 
no
Rolling Admissions: 
yes
Application Deadline: 
January 14, 2026
Financial Aid?: 
no
Financial Aid Application Deadline: 
January 14, 2026
Free Admission: 
no
Contact Information: 

Gell Writing Residency, c/o Writers & Books, 740 University Avenue, Rochester, NY 14607. (585) 473-2590, ext. 104. Chris Fanning, Deputy Director.

Chris Fanning
Deputy Director
Contact City: 
Naples
Contact State: 
NY
Contact Zip / Postal Code: 
14512
Country: 
US
Genre: 
Poetry
Fiction
Creative Nonfiction
Translation

Indiana University Writers’ Conference

May/June 2025

The 2025 Indiana University Writers’ Conference was held from June 5 to June 8 at University of Indiana in Bloomington. The conference featured workshops, craft classes, panel discussions, and readings for poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers. The faculty included poets janan alexandra and Safia Elhillo, fiction writers Stephen Amidon and Marguerite Sheffer, creative nonfiction writer John Cotter, and memoirist Elisa Gabbert. The cost of the conference, including tuition for a workshop and all classes, panels, and readings, was $825.

Type: 
CONFERENCE
Ignore Event Date Field?: 
yes
Event Date: 
January 14, 2026
Rolling Admissions: 
ignore
Application Deadline: 
January 14, 2026
Financial Aid?: 
no
Financial Aid Application Deadline: 
January 14, 2026
Free Admission: 
no
Contact Information: 

Indiana University Writers’ Conference, Ballantine Hall 440, 1020 East Kirkwood Avenue, Bloomington, IN 47405. Bob Bledsoe, Director.

Bob Bledsoe
Director
Contact City: 
Bloomington
Contact State: 
IN
Contact Zip / Postal Code: 
47405
Country: 
US
Genre: 
Poetry
Fiction
Creative Nonfiction
Tags: 
writing conferences

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