UNITED STATES

Classes   /   Conferences   /  Readings    /   Festivals   /   Retreats   /  Workshops

Alabama

• Fairhope – Fairhope Writers’ Forum
• Mobile – Mobile Writer’s Guild
• Montgomery – Alabama Book Festival 
• Montgomery – AWF / Alabama Writers’ Forum
• Orange Beach – Alabama Writers’ Conclave
• Tuscaloosa – University of Alabama / Young Writers’ Camp

Alaska

• Anchorage – 49 Writers
• Anchorage – Northern Renaissance Arts & Sciences Evening Reading Schedule
• Chugiak – Alaska Writers Guild Conference for Writers & Illustrators
• Homer – Kachemak Bay Writers’ Conference

Arizona

• Flagstaff – Flagstaff Writers’ Connection
• Phoenix, Tempe, Tucson – The Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing   *Recommended
• Sedona – Wellness & Writing Retreat
• Tempe – Central Arizona Writing Project
• Tempe – Changing Hands Bookstore / Classes & Workshops / Events
• Tempe – Desert Night Rising Stars Writers’ Conference *Recommended
• Tucson – Tucson Poetry Festival

Arkansas

• Eureka Springs – Ozark Creative Writers, Inc. 
• Eureka Springs – The Writers’ Colony
• Fayetteville – University of Arkansas Event Page
• North Little Rock – Arkansas Writers’ Conference

California

• Berkeley – UC Berkeley Lunch Poems   * Recommended   (see series on YouTube)
• Big Sur – Lit Camp
• Irvine – University of California Irvine – UCI MFA Reading Series
• Los Angeles – Otis College of Art & Design / Visiting Writers Series
• Los Angeles – UCLA Extension Writers’ Program 
• Los Angeles – WWLA / Writing Workshops
• Monterey – Old Capitol Books Events Page
• Pasadena – Writer’s Digest Novel Writing Conference
• Sacramento – Sacramento Poetry Center
• San Diego – San Diego Memoir Writers Association
• San Francisco – San Francisco Writers’ Conference   * Highly Recommended
• San Jose – San Jose Area Writing Project 
• Venice – Southern California Poetry Festival

Colorado

• Arapahoe – Arapahoe Community College Writers’ Studio
• Aspen – Aspen Words 
• Boulder – Naropa University / Summer Writing Program
• Boulder – Boulder Writing Studio
• Colorado Springs – Colorado College Visiting Writers Series
• Denver – Lighthouse Writers Workshop
• Fort Collins – Northern Colorado Writers Conference

Connecticut

• Fairfield – Summer Writers Conference
• Farmington – Sunken Garden Poetry Festival at Hill-Stead Museum
• Madison – Institute for Writers
• Westport – Westport Writers’ Workshop

Delaware

• Wilmington – Delaware Writers’ Retreat
• Wilmington – Delaware Writers Studio

Florida

• Altamonte – Florida Writers Association / Conferences & Events
• Miami – VONA / The Voices of Our Nations Arts Foundation                                          * Highly Recommended
• Palm Beach – Palm Beach Poetry Festival

Georgia

• Atlanta – Atlanta Writers’ Conference
• Atlanta – Emory University Creative Writing Continuing Education Classes
• Atlanta – Emory University Creative Writing Reading Series   *Recommended
• Blue Ridge – Blue Ridge Writers’ Conference
• Columbus – Chattahoochee Valley Writers’ Conference

Hawaii 

• Kalani, Puna District – Pele’s Fire / Write to the Core
• Kauai – Kauai Writers Conference   *Recommended
• Waialua – The Mokulē‘ia Writers Retreat

Idaho

• Boise – The Cabin / A Center for Readers & Writers
• Ketchum – Sun Valley Writers’ Conference
• Moscow – University of Idaho MFA Events Page

Illinois 

• Carbondale – The Devil’s Kitchen Fall Literary Festival  (Facebook link)
• Carlinville – Carlinville Writers Guild (Facebook)
• Chicago – Creative Writing Workshops (various)
• Chicago – IBPA Publishing University / Indie Writers & Author Publishers
• Chicago – StoryStudio
• Chicago – Summer Writers’ Conference
• Urbana-Campaign – University of Illinois Events (Facebook)

Indiana

• Bloomington – Indiana University Writers’ Conference
• Bloomington – Writers Guild at Bloomington
• Greencastle – Kelly Writers Series at DePauw University
• Indianapolis – The Kellogg Writers Series
• Indianapolis – The Rufus & Louise Reiberg Reading Series at IUPUI (Facebook)
• Muncie – Midwest Writers Workshop Super Mini-conference
• Zionsville – Poetry on Brick Street

Iowa

• Iowa City – Iowa Summer Writing Festival
• Iowa City – Iowa Writers’ House 
• Iowa City – Iowa Writers’ Workshop   *Highly Recommended
• Iowa City – Iowa Young Writers’ Studio

Kansas

• Lawrence – Lawrence Arts Center / Poetry Fair
• Lawrence – Science Fiction & Fantasy Novel Writers Workshop
• Topeka – Kansas Book Festival

Kentucky

• Hindman – Appalachian Writers’ Workshop 
• Lexington – Kentucky Women Writers’ Conference

Louisiana 

• Lake Charles – Bayou Writers Group
• New Orleans – New Orleans Poetry Festival
• New Orleans – Tennessee Williams / New Orleans Literary Festival

Maine

• Augusta – Terry Plunkett Poetry Festival
• Belfast – Belfast Poetry Festival

Maryland

• Baltimore – Johns Hopkins Krieger School of Arts & Sciences / The Writing Seminars – Reading Series

Massachusetts

• Boston – The Muse & The Marketplace  * Highly Recommended
• Provincetown – Summer Workshops / Fine Arts Work Center                                             * Highly Recommended 
• Salem – Massachusetts Poetry Festival
• Statewide – Mass Poetry: Statewide Calendar

Michigan

• Ann Arbor – Helen Zell Writers’ Program / Zell Visiting Writers Series    *Recommended

Minnesota

• Minneapolis – The Loft Literary Center
• Minneapolis – Midwest Fiction Writers
• Minneapolis – Minneapolis Writers’ Workshop

Mississippi

• Madison – Mississippi Writers’ Guild
• University – University of Mississippi Visiting Writers Schedule

Missouri

• Columbia – Show Me Writers Masterclass Minis
• Kansas City – The Writers Place

Montana

• Livingston – Elk River Writers Workshop

Nebraska

• Lincoln – University of Nebraska Creative Writing Events Page
• Omaha – University of Nebraska Writers’ Workshop Reading Series
• Statewide – The Poetry Menu

Nevada

• Las Vegas – Las Vegas Writers’ Conference

New Hampshire

• Henniker – New Hampshire Poetry Festival

New Jersey

• Morristown – The Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival   * Highly Recommended (Check out YouTube page)

New Mexico

• Albuquerque – UNM Writers’ Conference
• Taos – Taos Poetry Festival

New York

• Bronxville – Sarah Lawrence College Poetry Festival
• Brooklyn – One Story Summer Conference   * Recommended
• Brooklyn – Slice Literary Writers Conference
• Buffalo – Just Buffalo Literary Center
• Ithaca – Cornell University / Zalaznick Reading Reading Series  *Recommended (see series on YouTube)
• New York – The Allen Ginsberg Symposium
• New York City – ASJA / The American Society of Journalists and Authors Conference     * Highly Recommended
• New York City – BinderCon   * Highly Recommended
• New York City – CLMP / Literary Writers’ Conference  *Recommended
• New York City – Nuyorican Poets Cafe
• New York City – NYC Poetry Festival
• New York City – NYU Creative Writing Program Reading Series
• Saratoga Springs – New York State Summer Writers Institute                                             * Highly Recommended
• New York City – The Writers’ Hotel
• Southampton – Young Artists and Writers Project

North Carolina

• Carrboro – West End Poetry Festival

North Dakota

• Grand Forks – University of North Dakota Writers’ Conference

Ohio

• Ashland – River Teeth Nonfiction Conference
• Cincinnati – 10 Minute Novelists
• Cincinnati – University of Cincinnati Visiting Writers Series
• Gambier – Kenyon College / The Kenyon Review Writers’ Workshop  * Highly Recommended

Oklahoma

• Oklahoma City – Oklahoma Writers’ Federation Conference
• Tulsa – Nimrod: International Journal of Prose & Poetry: Events Page

Oregon 

• Gold Beach – South Coast Writers Conference
• McMinnville – Terrior Creative Writing Festival
• Newport – Oregon Writers Colony Annual Conference   *Recommended
• Portland – Airstream Poetry Festival & Fellowship
• Portland – AWP Writers’ Conference   * Highly Recommended
• Portland – Reed College / Tin House Summer Workshops                                                   * Highly Recommended
• Willamette – Willamette Writers Conference   *Recommended

Pennsylvania

• Media – Mad Poets Society
• Philadelphia – Philadelphia Stories

Rhode Island

• Providence – The Providence Poetry Slam

South Carolina

• Charleston – Free Verse Festival Events Page
• Columbia – South Carolina Writers Association

South Dakota

• Brookings – South Dakota State Poetry Society
• Vermillion – John R. Milton Writers’ Conference

Tennessee 

• Sewanee – Sewanee Writers’ Conference   * Highly Recommended

Texas

• Austin – Austin Poets International Poetry Festival
• Austin – University of Texas / Michener Center for Writers
• Austin – The New Writers Project / Events
• Dallas-Fort Worth – The Dallas-Fort Worth Writers Conference
• Waco – Beall Poetry Festival at Baylor University
• Waco – WORDFEST

Utah

• Provo – Utah State Poetry Society 
• Salt Lake City – Utah Arts Festival

Vermont

• Middlebury – The Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference    * Highly Recommended

Virginia

• Bridgewater – Bridgewater International Poetry Festival
• Burlington – Young Writers Project
• Charlottesville – University of Virginia Readings and Lectures Series   *Recommended

Washington 

• Lake Quinault – Rainforest Writers Village Retreat   *Recommended
• Orcas Island – Orcas Island Lit Fest (OILF)
• Port Townsend – Port Townsend Writers’ Conference    *Recommended
• Seattle – Pacific Northwest Writers Association Conference   *Recommended
• Tieton – LiTFUSE Poets’ Workshop

West Virginia

• Charleston – West Virginia Book Festival 

Wisconsin

• Fort Akinson – Lorine Niedecker Wisconsin Poetry Festival

Wyoming

• Casper – Casper College Literary Conference

 

AUSTRALIA

• Cairns, Australia – Cairns Tropical Writers Festival
• Melbourne, Australia – Emerging Writers’ Festival

 

CANADA

• Alberta, Edmonton – Edmonton Poetry Festival
• Surrey, British Columbia – Surrey International Writers’ Conference
• Vancouver, British Columbia – The Vancouver International Writers & Readers Festival

 

IRELAND

• Dublin, Ireland – Irish Writers’ Centre
• Sligo, Ireland – Yeats Society

 

MEXICO

• San Miguel de Allende, Mexico – San Miguel Writers’ Conference                                            * Highly Recommended   Check out the YouTube promo

 

NEW ZEALAND

• Auckland, New Zealand – Auckland Writers’ Festival
• Tauranga, New Zealand – Tauranga Arts Festival
• Wellington, New Zealand – Kāpiti Writers’ Retreat

 

UNITED KINGDOM

England

• London, England – The London Book Fair
• Shropshire, West Yorkshire, Devon, England – Arvon Foundation
• Throughout England – The Poetry Society

Northern Ireland

• Belfast, Northern Ireland – Aspects Festival

Scotland

• Edinburgh, Scotland – Scotland’s Storytelling Centre
• Inverness, Scotland – Moniack Mhor Creative Writing Centre

Wales

• Llanystumdwy, Cricieth, Gwynedd, Wales – Tŷ Newydd Writing Centre