Community of Writers

The Community of Writers offered workshops in poetry from June 17 to June 23 and in fiction and nonfiction (including creative nonfiction) from July 8 to July 15 in Olympic Valley, near Lake Tahoe in California’s Sierra Nevada. The program featured workshops, craft talks, publishing panels, readings, and one-on-one conferences with faculty. The faculty included poets Blas Falconer, Brenda Hillman, Major Jackson, Patricia Spears Jones, Brynn Saito, and Matthew Zapruder; fiction writers Lisa Alvarez, Leland Cheuk, Mark Childress, Tyler Dilts, Janet Fitch, Karen Joy Fowler, Dana Johnson, Louis B. Jones, Sameer Pandya, Victoria Patterson, Margaret Wilkerson Sexton, Gregory Spatz, Gail Tsukiyama, and Monica West; and fiction and nonfiction writers Ingrid Rojas Contreras, Alex Espinoza, Sands Hall, Erika Hayasaki, Rachel Howard, Jason Roberts, Martin J. Smith, Andrew Tonkovich, David L. Ulin, and Tom Zoellner. Special guests included poet Sharon Olds and prose writers Michelle Latiolais, Susanne Pari, and Amy Tan. Participating publishing professionals included editors Reagan Arthur (Knopf), Leland Cheuk (7.13 Books), Michelle Chihara (Los Angeles Review of Books), Jean Garnett (Little, Brown), Dan Lopez (Counterpoint Press), Andrew Tonkovich (Santa Monica Review), David L. Ulin (Air/Light), Oscar Villalon (Zyzzyva), and Blaise Zerega (Alta) and agents Michael Mungiello (InkWell Management) and BJ Robbins (BJ Robbins Literary Agency). Tuition, which included some meals, was $1,500 for a poetry workshop and $1,650 for a prose workshop. Lodging was available in nearby condos and shared houses, ranging from $400 for a shared room in a house to $1,800 for a private condo. Limited financial aid and scholarships were available, including aid designated for underrepresented writers. To apply, writers submitted 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 1. Visit the website for an application 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.