Tuesday, June 24, 2025

35 Great Writing Conferences and Workshops in July 2025

This July there are more than two dozen writing conferences and workshops. Some conferences and workshops will be held online, but most will be held in person or use a hybrid format.

These writing events offer everything a writer might want: intensive workshops, pitch sessions with agents, how to market your books, discussions - there is something for everyone.

If you miss an application deadline, put it on your calendar for next year. Quite a few conferences offer scholarships, so apply early. Plan ahead!

For a full list of conferences held throughout the year see Writing Conferences.

Be sure to check out Highlights list of workshops. They offer many throughout the year. 

(Image: Napa: Flickr)

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Summer Camp in Illustration: Intensive Artistic Inspiration. July 6 - 9, 2025: Boyds Mills, PA. At the Highlights Foundation, “summer camp” is different than s’mores by the fire and hiking in the woods. (Though we do that, too.) Get away for four days at our Summer Camp in Illustration for inspiration, guidance, support, community, fun, creativity, and growth. 

Young Writers Workshop. July 6 - 26, 2025: Great Barrington, Massachusetts. Restrictions: For students completing grades 9, 10, 11. Three 90-minute workshop sessions daily, including imaginative writing activities and discussion of readings. Weekly individual meetings with workshop instructor. Focus is on using various forms of creative writing to develop language and thinking skills. 

Traveling Light: Writing the Uncertain with Hannah Dela Cruz Abrams. July 6 - August 24, 2025: Online. To be skilled writers, we must be skilled noticers. Taking that concept as genesis, our workshop will begin with what the eye can hold: landscape, season, weather, gesture—the observable light. Then, we’ll look harder, study what isn’t so easy to perceive: inheritance and loss, grief and resilience. Janet Frame says we are exiles, but she also gestures toward home. The trick is in the paradox. Using memory, language, and research, we will write to hold that tension, to write between the lines of the known and unknown world. To decenter ourselves, if need be. This nonfiction workshop is part of that lifelong journey—one we’ll travel together for a time, though I suspect it won’t end with the last class, setting down what the world contains, so we might better understand—or even transcend—it. Application deadline June 5.

Summer Fishtrap Gathering of Writers. July 7 - 13, 2025: Wallowa Lake, Oregon. Take a weeklong writing workshop in your favorite genre: fiction, nonfiction, poetry, memoir, or short story. Each workshop is limited to no more than 13 participants, giving you the opportunity to build connections with a world-class instructor and your fellow writers. Throughout the week, we’ll bring the best of Summer Fishtrap to you through craft talks, discussions, open mics, readings, and a special 35th Anniversary Celebration.

Community of Writers Workshop in Fiction, Narrative Nonfiction, and Memoir. July 7 - 14, 2025: Olympic Valley, California. These workshops assist serious writers by exploring the art and craft as well as the business of writing. The week offers daily morning workshops, craft lectures, panel discussions on editing and publishing, staff readings, as well as brief individual conferences. The morning workshops are led by staff writer-teachers, editors, or agents. There are separate morning workshops for Fiction and Narrative Nonfiction/ Memoir. In addition to their workshop manuscript, participants may have a second manuscript read by a staff member who meets with them in an individual conference. During the week, a portion of our workshops is devoted exclusively to nonfiction. Memoir, narrative nonfiction, and essays are invited. Literary criticism and scholarly work will not be considered. Nonfiction applicants can use the same general form for submission. Application deadline March 10

ASLE Biennial Conference. July 8 - 11, 2025: University of Maryland, College Park. "ASLE seeks to inspire and promote intellectual work in the environmental humanities and arts. Our vision is an inclusive community whose members are committed to environmental research, education, literature, art and service, environmental justice, and ecological sustainability.

Writing the Unseen: Multi-genre workshop with Laura Marris. July 8–August 12, 2025: Online. Places are almost always more than they appear. Beneath the surface of familiar, local landscapes lie vast environmental histories, some shaped by people, and others by living communities that are invisible to the human eye. In this generative, multi-genre workshop, we will approach the literature of the unseen through buried environmental changes, like stories of toxicity, underground rivers, or animal routes beneath highways; as well as through the stories of other species whose presences are often camouflaged, secret, or otherwise hidden from view. How can writers attend to what has been erased, ignored, or buried? How can we unfurl a landscape’s memory, or evoke the invisible traces of place we all carry in our bodies? Together we’ll explore examples from writers and artists working with the flight paths of birds, the former meanders of the Mississippi River, as well as personal ways memory, psychogeography, and emotional resonance can mark a place. In each session, we’ll combine readings with writing prompts and exercises designed to bring the unseen onto the page. Application deadline June 5.

Southampton Writers Conference. July 9 - 13, 2025: Long Island, NY. The conference features workshops in poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and publishing, as well as readings, lectures, and a master class series. Creative writing workshops are the heart and soul of the summer experience, meeting four afternoons or mornings throughout the session. Enrollment is limited to 13 lucky writers who have applied with writing samples. Those accepted have the privilege of sharing their work in an intimate, rigorous and friendly setting. 

Midwest Writers Workshop. July 10- 12, 2025: Muncie, Indiana. Craft and business sessions, agent pitches, manuscript evaluations. MWW includes quality instruction by a faculty of authors, agents, editors, and specialists. Will be held online and in person.

Intro to Novels in Verse: Drafting and Deepening Your Story. July 10 - 31, 2025. Novels in verse are a celebrated storytelling form. They are packed with emotion, alongside a tight pace and deeply resonating character arcs. If you are just beginning on your journey into novels in verse and wonder how to get your idea into a first draft, this course is for you. 24 participants max. 

Cascade Three-day Critique Workshop. July 11 – 13, 2025: Bremerton, WA. "Our Three-Day Critique Workshop is an opportunity for you to submit the first 4000 words of your novel, short story, or whatever project you are working on, for critique in a group of up to 8 peers led by an industry professional. This is a great way to polish up those first pages and first chapter. Submissions are due six weeks before the event via our Discord Channel. Registrants will receive login information a few weeks before submissions are due. There will also be one-hour workshops and panel presentations on craft, querying, the publishing industry, and more. Optional casual gatherings provide opportunities to get to know other writers as well as authors, editors, and agents." 

Sundress Academy: Trans/Nonbinary Writing Retreat. July 12 - 13, 2025: Via Zoom. The event will be open to trans and nonbinary writers of all backgrounds and experience levels and provide an opportunity to work with many talented authors and poets from around the country, including workshop leaders Joy Ladin and SG Huerta, and keynote speaker Dani Putney, whose address is titled “A Stake through the Heart: On Duende, Vulnerability, and the Self in Creative Writing.” Cost $75. Sold out.

Getting Into Your Story: An Editor’s Perspective. July 13, 2025: Online. The editor of Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine shares her observations of common problems she sees in the stories that get rejected and discusses one technique to address some of those problems. Free.

Port Townsend Writers’ Conference. July 13 - 20, 2025: Port Townsend, Washington. workshops in poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction, as well as craft lectures, readings, open mics, and time to write. "The Port Townsend Writers’ Conference has been since 1974 at the wild heart of the thriving Pacific Northwest literary scene. With a focus on community and rigorous attention to craft, the Conference offers morning workshops, afternoon workshops, residencies, guided freewrites, and a vibrant readings and lectures series presented by vital, contemporary writers."

Summer Camp in Writing: Create and Dream! July 13 -17, 2025: Boyds Mills, PA. Our Summer Camp in Writing is a time to find the kind of encouragement for your stories that only a generous mentor can provide. To find inspiration and support. To be with a community that understands the long process of turning dreams into books for children. To work 1:1 and fine-tune your words and pitches while you have some fun. Waitlisted.

First Friday Book Talk & Reading with Cliff Taylor Author of "The Shining Hands of My Ponca Ancestors." July 14, 2025: via Zoom.

Picture Book Essentials: A Two-Night Mini for Picture Book Writers. July 15 - 17, 2025: Online. Picture books may be short, but writing them is no small task! Join award-winning author Darcy Pattison and author/illustrator Leslie Helakoski for a two-session deep dive into the essential elements that turn your ideas into engaging picture books!

Sewanee Writers’ Conference. July 15 -  27, 2025: Sewanee, TN. Faculty will give readings and provide instruction and criticism through workshops and craft lectures, as well as meet individually with participants to discuss their manuscripts. The Conference will offer five fiction workshops, four poetry workshops, and a playwriting workshop supported by two professional actors. In addition, a substantial number of literary agents will attend. Application deadline March 1.

Romance Writers of America. July 16 - 19, 2025: Niagara Falls, Ontario (CANADA). Whether you're new to romance writing, an established author, or anywhere in between, there’s something for everyone—dynamic workshops, exciting community activities, and much more to elevate your career and connect with fellow writers.

Writercon Retreat. July 16 - 20, 2025: Wagoner, OK. Join us for a five-day, small-group writing retreat at the 300-acre Canebrake Resort in Wagoner, OK, on Ft. Gibson lake. Our retreat group will have the resort to ourselves with paths to hike, a pool to enjoy, bikes to ride and much more! 

Saskatchewan Festival of Words. July 17 - 20, 2025: Moose Jaw, Canada. Workshops for all ages, reading sessions, concerts, film, panel discussions, interviews, music, theatre, a slam poetry competition as well as workshops and author readings.

Imaginarium. July 18 - 20, 2025: Louisville KY. A three day annual event held in Louisville, Kentucky centered entirely around creative writing, including the worlds of books, movies, gaming, music, and comics/graphic novels. Imaginarium Convention features extensive programming content, with panels and workshops presented by over 150 professional guests covering everything from the craft of writing to various genres, industry-specific topics, publishing, and social media/publicity. The convention features a film festival with a full array of awards, a masquerade/costume contest, live music, gaming, an expo open to the general public, an awards banquet, a series of literary awards called the Imadjinns, and many more activities, creating a welcoming, inclusive atmosphere that is content-rich and ideal for networking, promotion and personal development. 

Mystery Writers Conference.  July 18 - 20, 2025: Corte Madera, CA. In this conference, mystery writers learn the clues to a successful writing career. Editors, agents, and publishers tell participants what they need to know to get published. Authors offer classes on setting, dialogue, suspense, point of view, and openings. They tell how to write about private eyes, amateur sleuths, and police protagonists, and how to create thrillers and historical mysteries. Panels of detectives, forensic experts, police, and other crime-fighting professionals provide information that allows crime fiction writers to put realism in their work. 

Napa Valley Writers’ Conference. July 20 - 25, 2025: Napa, California. While conference lectures and readings are open to the public, the heart of the experience — the daily workshop, with the opportunity to give and receive feedback on work in progress — is available only to participants. It’s through this intense process that new and established writers interact most meaningfully and forge the bonds that give the conference community life beyond the annual conference week.

Taylor's Professional Writers ConferenceJuly 24 - 26, 2025: Upland, Indiana. Sponsored by Taylor University's nationally recognized Professional Writing major, this conference stresses tools and tips for getting your writing into print. You'll learn from professional writers and network with agents and editors who can take you to the next level in your writing.

Writer's Digest Annual Conference. July 24 - 27, 2025: Baltimore, MD. Writer's Digest Annual Conference offers everything you need to advance your writing career creatively and professionally. Gain invaluable tips to improve your craft, explore publishing options and learn how to establish a sustainable career—all while being inspired by successful authors and your fellow attendees. It’s all brought to you by Writer’s Digest, the experts at nurturing and developing writers at every stage of their career for over 100 years.

North Carolina Writers' Network Squire Summer Writing Workshops. July 24 - 27, 2025: Davidson, North Carolina. The Squire Workshops offer four days of deep dives into your chosen genre, along with an opportunity to form close bonds with writers from across the state and beyond. Maddie Norris will lead the Creative Nonfiction workshop, “Writing the Body: Embodied Creative Nonfiction.” Bryn Chancellor will lead the Fiction workshop, “The Non-Human World: How Fauna, Flora, and Materials Animate Fiction.” Junious Ward will lead the Poetry workshop, “The Alchemist’s Guide: Poems Into Gold.”

The 2025 New England Writing Workshop. July 25 - 26, 2025: Online. This writing event is a wonderful opportunity to get intense instruction over the course of one day, pitch a literary agent or editor (optional), get your questions answered, and more. Note that there are limited online “seats” at the event (200 total).

Confluence-SFF. July 25 - 27, 2025: Coraopolis, PA. Located at the birthplace of the Ohio River, Confluence is Pittsburgh’s longest-running literary conference with a strong focus on science fiction, fantasy and horror. Award-winning authors, editors, artists and song-writers gather for three full days.

Colrain ClassicJuly 25 - 28, 2025. "The Colrain Manuscript Classic is a highly focused, 3-day conference designed for poets with manuscripts in progress. The Classic features in-depth pre-conference work and candid, realistic evaluation and feedback from nationally-known poets, editors and publishers. In preparation, participants work at home on pre-conference assignments and then, in the workshop, review, arrange, and winnow their work based on the pre-conference work. In addition to the manuscript preparation workshop, manuscript workshop and editorial sessions, there will be an editorial Q&A, and an after-conference strategy session." On Zoom.

Willamette Writers Conference. July 30 - August 3, 2025: Portland, Oregon. Three full days of classes, workshops, keynotes, critiques, and events. There are also Master Classes with industry professionals in which you can learn from top instructors in a small group setting and many options for one on one critique, including On the Spot Critiques and Advance Manuscript Critique. As always, they will have a roster of agents, editors and film executives ready to hear about your project. 

Mendocino Coast Writers Conference. July 31 - August 2, 2025: Mendocino, California. The Mendocino Coast Writers’ Conference is a vibrant gathering that offers Morning Workshops in a wide range of genres. Afternoons are packed with craft seminars, panels, one-on-one consultations, and open mics; and every evening offers an opportunity to enjoy the camaraderie and connection that make this conference, in the words of one participant, “life changing.” The registration deadline is June 30.

The Creativity Workshop in New York. July 31 - August 3, 2025: New York, New York. "The Creativity Workshops take away the fear of writing and open the way to new ideas. They are especially helpful for writers in fiction, poetry, memoir, theatre and film to get over writing blocks. In our Creativity Workshop Retreats you will generate both new work and ideas for the work you are in the midst of creating. We use many different techniques to help you find your way through the novel, essay, poem, memoir, or script you are writing or hope to write. In The Creativity Workshop you will be doing free writing, writing from guided visualizations, collaborative writing, journaling and memoir work and even some rudimentary drawing, collage and photography."

Cape Cod Writers Center Conference. July 31 -  August 3, 2025: Hyannis, Massachusetts. Supporting published and aspiring writers. Featuring distinguished authors, editors and agents in workshops on fiction, nonfiction, screenwriting, poetry, mysteries and thrillers, social media, promotion and more! 

Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators Annual Conference. July 31 - August 3, 2025: Via Zoom. More than 100 writers, editors, illustrators, & agents. Workshops, breakout sessions, manuscript and portfolio consultations, panels, discussions. Will be held online.

Events with application deadlines in July

Frost Place Poetry SeminarAugust 3 - 7, 2025: Online. The Seminar schedule features a daily presentation/discussion exploring aspects of craft and technique, an afternoon workshop of participants’ poems or individual, virtual meetings with faculty, and an evening reading, some by faculty poets and others featuring participants. The application deadline is July 1, 2025Will be held online.

Hold Space Retreat for Artists of Color. September 15 - 23, 2025: Saugatuck, Michigan. Participants who qualify for a Hold Space Retreat can enjoy communal living, making, and opportunities to organize on Ox-Bow’s campus in Saugatuck, Michigan. Lodging, three meals per day, and access to Ox-Bow studios and spaces are provided. People of color across the creative spectrum including artists of any discipline, writers, curators, teachers, and Ox-Bow Alumni are encouraged to apply. The retreat supports individuals or groups of up to twenty for any length from one to seven nights. Application deadline: July 6, 2025.

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