Genre: Creative Nonfiction

The 30th annual Vermont College of Fine Arts (VCFA) Postgraduate Writers’ Conference was held from August 2 to August 8, 2025, on the Champlain College campus in Burlington, Vermont. Designed for writers with graduate degrees or equivalent experience, the conference featured workshops in poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction, as well as readings, craft talks, and one-on-one consultations with faculty members. Each workshop was limited to five or six participants. The faculty included poets Kathleen Graber, Tomás Q.

The Virginia Center for the Creative Arts offers residencies of varying lengths (up to six weeks) year-round to poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers on the historic grounds of Mt. San Angelo in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Residents are provided with private lodging and studio space, meals, and access to the facilities of nearby Sweet Briar College. The residency fee is $75 per day; full fellowships and need-based financial aid are available.

The Mesa Verde Writers Conference, sponsored by Mancos Creative District, was held on July 10 and July 11 at the Mancos Commons Building in downtown Mancos, Colorado. The conference features workshops for poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers, and was followed on July 12 by a literary festival with pop-up activities throughout Mancos. Participating authors included poet January Gill O’Neil, poet and fiction writer Lisa C. Taylor, and fiction writers Angie Hodapp and Mark Stevens. The cost of the conference, which includes workshops, readings, and meals, was $425.

Headlands Center for the Arts offers four- to ten-week residencies from mid-March to mid-November to poets, fiction writers, creative nonfiction writers, and graphic novelists at its retreat center in the coastal wilderness of the Marin Headlands outside San Francisco. Residents are provided with a private bedroom and work space in a shared house, round-trip airfare, four meals per week, and a $1,000 monthly stipend. Writers not currently enrolled in an academic program are eligible.