Bread Loaf Environmental Writers' Conference

Bread Loaf Environmental Writers' Conference

Faculty: Jennifer Chang, Daniel Duane, John Elder, Sean Hill, J. Drew Lanham, Helen Macdonald, and Claire Vaye Watkins. 

Special Guests: Dan Chiasson, Bill McKibben, and James Prosek. Click here to read about the faculty and special guests for 2019. 

Dates and Location:  Friday, May 31 - Thursday, June 6, 2019.
The conference will take place at the Bread Loaf campus of Middlebury College in Ripton, Vermont.

The Program: The 6th annual Bread Loaf Environmental Writers’ Conference is a week-long writers’ conference, based on the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference model, that's designed to hone the skills of people interested in producing literary writing about the environment and the natural world. The conference is cosponsored by the Middlebury College Environmental Studies Program and the Franklin Environmental Center. The conference will incorporate small, focused workshops coupled with specialized classes centered on the craft of writing. Workshops will be limited to ten participants so that each manuscript will receive individual, focused attention and critique. All participants will also meet individually with their workshop leader to amplify and refine what was said in the workshop itself. Established editors, literary agents, and publishers will give presentations on placing work in magazines and navigating the environmental book publishing world.

This dynamic, week-long conference of workshops, classes, lectures, and readings is designed for:

• writers who seek to become better advocates for the environment through their work
• prose writers and poets who are drawn to writing about the natural world
• teachers, scholars, and scientists who wish to write for a more general readership
• environmental professionals who want to bring better writing skills to bear on their work

There is also an auditing option available for those who do not yet have a manuscript of writing to submit for workshop critique.

Application and Acceptance: The conference offers rolling admissions through March 1; spots are still available in poetry and nonfiction; applicants are notified four to six weeks after submission.

Fees: Application fee, $20

Participant: Tuition, room, and board, $2,380; financial aid is available, including a new scholarship made possible by the Rona Jaffe Foundation that features a full scholarship including a $500 travel stipend to be awarded to a woman early in her career.

Auditor: Tuition, room, and board, $2,025

For More Information: Visit Bread Loaf Environmental or write to us at ble@middlebury.edu. 

Last changed: Feb 20 2019 at 5:52 PM