This April 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, to how to market yourself and 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. 

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Annual National Undergraduate Literature Conference. April 3 - 5, 2025: Weber State University, Ogden, UT. "Each year, nearly 200 undergraduate writers and poets throughout North America, and sometimes beyond, come to Weber State University to present their work and learn from some of the most important writers in contemporary literature." 

Tennessee Mountain Writers Annual Conference. April 3 - 5, 2025: Oak Ridge, TN. Writing Contests, Workshops, Networking, Manuscript Evaluations, Publishers, Book Signings, Bookstore, Vendors, And more!

Las Vegas Writer’s Conference April 3 – 5, 2025: Las Vegas, Nevada. Join writing professionals, agents publishers and marketing experts for a weekend of workshops and enlightening discussions about the publishing industry. A chance to pitch your manuscript and ideas to agents. 

Chanticleer Authors Conference. April 3 - 6, 2025: Bellingham, Wash. Sessions with a special focus on the business of being a working writer on topics such as marketing, publicity, platform, sales tools & strategies, publishing, production, distribution, organization, storycraft, editing, and more. 

Writing for the Educational Market. April 3 - May 15, 2025: Online. Learn the ins and outs of writing for the educational market in this 6-week course. Hosted by experienced industry professionals, this workshop will get you up to speed quickly and prepare you for submitting your work to publishers. 30 participants max.

Ohio Writing Workshop. April 4 - 5, 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). Will be held virtually.

The Creativity Workshop in New York. April 4 - 7, 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." 

Liberty States Fiction Writers Conference. April 5, 2025: Hamilton, NJ. "In addition to our wonderful and diverse keynote speakers, we have a number of editors and agents who will be attending to take pitches as well as some awesome writer and reader workshops!"

Northeast Texas Writers Organization. April 5, 2025: Mt Pleasant, TX. Romance Writing Workshop.

The 2025 Minnesota Writing Workshop. April 5, 2025: St. Paul, MN. "This is a special one-day “How to Get Published” writing workshop. In other words, it’s one day full of classes and advice designed to give you the best instruction concerning how to get your writing & books published. We’ll discuss your publishing opportunities today, how to write queries & pitches, how to market yourself and your books, what makes an agent/editor stop reading your manuscript, and more. No matter what you’re writing — fiction or nonfiction — the day’s classes will help point you in the right direction. Writers of all genres are welcome."

San Diego Writing Workshop. April 7 - 8, 2025: Online. This writing event is a wonderful opportunity to get intense instruction over the course of two days, 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).

Intro to Novels in Verse: Forms and Fundamentals. April 9 - 30, 2025: Online. Join verse novelist Cordelia Jensen for a four-week online course to explore the fundamentals, celebrations, and challenges of writing novels in verse. You’ll be introduced to using this form to its utmost advantage, while taking into consideration the general foundations of storytelling.

Just Do It! Your Collaborative Support Group for Finishing Your Draft (Spring/Summer). April 9 - June 4, 2025: Online. This supportive program takes all creatives (nonfiction or fiction, picture books, novels, essays, and more) from goal-stating to finished drafts. Together, we’ll move through live sessions, writing prompts, studio dates, daily inspirations, check-ins, feedback, and more. 50 participants max.

The 2025 Sacramento Writing Workshop. April 11, 2025: Sacramento, CA. A full-day “How to Get Published” event. "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."

Moravian Writers’ Conference. April 11 - 12, 2025: Bethlehem, PA. Everyone’s invited to this year’s FREE conference, including local community members and faculty and students from all fields of study! This year’s conference (featuring in-person and live streamed events) will cover different ways for thinking about story and story sharing, with a focus on social and environmental justice. Some questions our offerings will pose include:

• What is the value of writing in our society today?
• How can we use writing as a tool to promote social justice and change?
• How do storytelling skills help people make a difference?
• How can we use story sharing to make connections to the issues we face today?​

Florida Writing Workshop. April 11 (Orlando) and 12 (Tampa), 2025. Two separate full-day “How to Get Published” writing events in Florida. These writing events are 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 seats at the events."

The 2025 Writing Workshop of San Francisco. April 12, 2025: San Francisco, CA. A full-day “How to Get Published” event. "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."

San Antonio Book Festival. April 12, 2025: San Antonio, TX. The San Antonio Book Festival is a FREE, annual, daylong event that unites readers and writers in a celebration of ideas, books, libraries, and literary culture. Featuring more than 80 nationally and regionally acclaimed authors, the Festival offers programming for all ages. 

Rally of Writers Conference. April 12, 2025: Lansing, Michigan. Michigan authors and educators in 15 breakout sessions and workshops on all aspects of writing, including poetry, fiction, nonfiction, screenwriting, the Nuts & Bolts of manuscript submissions, and more. 

Write Stuff Writers Conference. April 13 -15, 2025: Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Workshops, Agent./Editor pitch sessions, marketing consults plus lunch and Keynote address, Book Fair, Flash Literature Writing Contest, Door Prizes. Featuring: Tiffany Yates Martin. Registration closes March 2.

Hedgebrook’s Writer-in-Residence Program supports writers from all over the world for residencies of two to four weeks. The cottage, all meals, and the entire residency experience at Hedgebrook is free to selected writers. Travel is not included and is the responsibility of the writer to arrange and pay for. Up to 6 writers can be in residence at a time, each housed in their own handcrafted cottage. They spend their days in solitude – writing, reading, taking walks in the woods on the property or on nearby Double Bluff beach. In the evenings, “The Gathering” is a social time for residents to connect and share over their freshly prepared meals.  Writers must be women, which is inclusive of transgender women and female-identified individuals. Because gender inequity still occurs in all spaces including literary ones, it is part of our explicit mission to support and promote women’s voices. Applications open February 14 - April 14 for 2026 Residency.

Writing Queer & Trans Geographies. April 16, 2025: Online. "This generative poetry workshop will look at how the theme of place offers fruitful opportunities to engage with themes of identity and social justice, challenge fraught assumptions about where queer and trans life thrives, as well as conceptualize affirming futures. We’ll consider how to render the settings where we feel most authentically ourselves and craft work that interrogates the idea that setting is meant only for description: rather, it is an inexorable part of who we are. We will examine work by Natalie Diaz, Oliver Baez Bendorf, Evelyn Berry, Danez Smith, and Andrea Abi-Karam."

Norwescon. April 17 - 20, 2025: Sea Tac, WA. Norwescon is one of the largest regional Science Fiction and Fantasy conventions in the United States.

Nebraska Writers Guild Annual Conference and Writing Retreat. April 24 - 26, 2025: Omaha, NE. Workshops, pitch sessions with an agent and writing sessions followed by evening keynote speakers.

Ozarks Writers League Conference. April 25 - 26, 2025: Joplin, MO. The Ozarks Writers League is a group of like-minded individuals dedicated to promoting writing, literacy, photography, and art. Since 1983, OWL has welcomed individuals at all stages of their development. 

Kentucky Writing Workshop, April 25, 2025: Louisville, KY. This is a special one-day “How to Get Published” writing workshop. In other words, it’s one day full of classes and advice designed to give you the best instruction concerning how to get your writing & books published. We’ll discuss your publishing opportunities today, how to write queries & pitches, how to market yourself and your books, what makes an agent/editor stop reading your manuscript, and more. No matter what you’re writing — fiction or nonfiction — the day’s classes will help point you in the right direction. Writers of all genres are welcome.

Monadnock Pastoral Poetry Retreat. April 25 - 27, 2025. Greenfield, NH.  Includes workshops, individual conferences, participant & mentor readings; hiking & kayaking (weather permitting). Each workshop uses dual mentors.

Poetry at Round Top Festival. April 25 - 27, 2025: Round Top, Texas. Featuring: Mark Doty, Gabrielle Calvocoressi, Amanda Johnston, Kim Stafford, Hayan Charara, Cecily Parks, Joan Logghe.

Malice Domestic. April 25 - 27, 2025: Bethesda, MD. Malice Domestic™ is an annual fan convention in the metropolitan DC area that celebrates the traditional mystery, books best typified by the works of Agatha Christie. The genre is loosely identified as mysteries which contain no explicit sex, or excessive gore, or violence. 

Tennessee Writing Workshop. April 26, 2025: Nashville, TN. This is a special one-day “How to Get Published” writing workshop. In other words, it’s one day full of classes and advice designed to give you the best instruction concerning how to get your writing & books published. We’ll discuss your publishing opportunities today, how to write queries & pitches, how to market yourself and your books, what makes an agent/editor stop reading your manuscript, and more. No matter what you’re writing — fiction or nonfiction — the day’s classes will help point you in the right direction. Writers of all genres are welcome. 

Red Clay Writers Conference. April 26, 2025: Kennesaw GA. Red Clay Writers Conference is the annual conference of Georgia Writers Association. Red Clay has been hosted since 2009 to encourage and inspire writers through literary events that focus on the art and craft of writing. 

Philadelphia Writing Workshop. April 26, 2025: Philadelphia, PA.  This is a special one-day “How to Get Published” writing workshop. In other words, it’s one day full of classes and advice designed to give you the best instruction concerning how to get your writing & books published. We’ll discuss your publishing opportunities today, how to write queries & pitches, how to market yourself and your books, what makes an agent/editor stop reading your manuscript, and more. No matter what you’re writing — fiction or nonfiction — the day’s classes will help point you in the right direction. Writers of all genres are welcome.

WORKSHOPS WITH APPLICATION DEADLINES IN APRIL

Odyssey Writing Workshop. June 2, 2025 (6 weeks): Online. Since its inception in 1996, Odyssey has become one of the most highly respected workshops for writers of fantasy, science fiction, and horror. Will be held online. Application deadline April 1.

Kenyon Review Writers Workshops. June 15 - 20, 2025: Gambier, Ohio. Workshops in poetry, fiction, and nonfiction led by an accomplished faculty. Genre workshops (Fiction, Literary Nonfiction, and Poetry) are held for three hours each morning. Online. Applications close April 14, 2025.

This January there are more than a 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, to how to market yourself and your books, discussions - there is something for everyone.

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

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

_______________________
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Pacific University Master of Fine Arts in Writing Residency Writers Conference. January 4 - 14, 2025 (?): Seaside, Oregon. Writers seeking to deepen their craft and expand their professional community are invited to attend the Residency Writers Conference together with MFA students, faculty and guest speakers. Join us for 10 full days of craft talks, workshops, panels, classes, readings and more featuring some of the best minds of the literary world. This residency is a rare opportunity to engage in sustained and meaningful conversation with others who share your passion for the art of writing. Application deadline: December 1, 2024. If you missed the deadline, put this on your calendar for next year.

Key West Literary Seminar. January 9–12, 2025: Key West, Florida. Each year, the Key West Literary Seminar explores a particular literary theme. This year the theme is: Family.

Aspen Winter Words. January 11 - March 14, 2025: Aspen, CO. The 2024 Aspen Words Winter Words lineup once again features acclaimed book club selections, bestselling authors, stunning stories of triumph and a world champion athlete. All winter long, explore these memoirs and works of fiction in person alongside the minds that conceived of them. Winter Words kicks off on January 11 with Ann Patchett and Elizabeth McCracken in conversation and runs through March 14 concluding with Abraham Verghese.

Writing By Writers DRAFT. Application deadline: January 15, 2025: Boulder, CO. DRAFT is an intensive program for 15 writers who are committed to completing a novel, memoir, short story, or essay collection over the course of two years. Whether starting a first draft, or working through a new revision, this program is appropriate for writers who want a rigorous and supportive community throughout their process. 

Writing By Writers GET THE LEAD OUT! January 17 - 19, 2025: Online. Th Each day will feature a craft talk by one of our faculty members and participants will split into small groups where they will dissect the art and craft of writing through lectures, writing exercises and class discussions. We won’t be reading and critiquing manuscripts, but rather closely examining elements of craft with the intention of allowing participants to see their work with deeper insight while also generating new material. Each participant will have the opportunity to work in a small group setting with all three faculty members. Whether you are just getting started or have projects that need new life, this workshop will offer inspiration and insight to take you to the next level.

Winter Poetry & Prose Getaway. January 17 - 20, 2025, Atlantic City, New Jersey. A participant-focused writers’ conference. Advance your craft and energize your writing at the 30th annual Winter Poetry & Prose Getaway. Enjoy challenging and supportive workshops, insightful feedback and an encouraging community. Choose from workshops in poetry, fiction, nonfiction, memoir, songwriting, playwriting and more.

Colrain Classic. January 17 - 20, 2025: Online. "The Colrain Manuscript Classic is a highly focused, 3.5 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 and editor sessions, there will be an editorial Q&A, and an after-conference strategy session." Will be conducted online.

TMW January Jumpstart. January 18 - 19, 2025: Oak Ridge, TN. “We will have a “Meet and Greet” session Friday from 7 p.m. – 8 p.m. Eastern. On Saturday there will be concurrent Poetry and Fiction morning sessions from 9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Eastern, and afternoon sessions from 1:30 – 4:30 Eastern." Registration $150. Application deadline December 29. If you missed the deadline, put this on your calendar for next year.

Eckerd College Writers in Paradise Conference. January 18 -25, 2025: St. Petersburg, FL. Workshops, roundtables, panel discussions, manuscript consultation, Q&As, readings book signings, and receptions. Application deadline: November 1, 2024. If you missed the deadline, put this on your calendar for next year.

The Stowe Vermont Winter Writing Adventure. January 26 - 31, 2025: Stowe, VT. The Stowe Vermont Winter Writing Adventure is a week-long workshop with Pam Houston and CMarie Fuhrman where writers will work with both faculty members to generate new work while snowshoeing, XC skiing, and exploring the beauty of New England in the wintertime. The workshop is limited to 20 participants to ensure an intimate setting, plus plenty of time to write and explore all the outdoor wonders Stowe has to offer.

Jaipur Literature Festival. January 30 - February 3, 2025. Presentations, panels, readings, and music performances. In an uplifting celebration of the mind and heart, authors from the Americas, Asia, Africa, and Europe will take part in provocative conversations about life and society, economics and the arts, equity, freedom, and the care of our planet. In these critical times, the penetrating, intercultural dialogue exchanged speaks deeply to individuals and gives rise to the joy of community.

Sunshine State Book Festival. January 31 - February 1, 2025: Gainesville, Florida. "Authors from around Florida and the nation will gather at the Hilton University of Florida Conference Center on January 27th, from 10 am to 5 pm to sell books and talk about their work. Festivities include guest speakers, giveaways, storytelling, and more." Admission is free.

SCBWI In-Person Winter Conference 2025. January 31 - February 2, 2025: NY, NY. Come and be inspired by renowned authors and illustrators, learn about the state of the children's book publishing industry from panels of agents, editors and art directors, dive deep into your craft with TWO three-hour Creative Labs, and get your work in front of industry professionals!

Conferences with application deadlines in January 2025
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Wild Seeds Writers Retreat. February 20 - 23, 2025. The Wild Seeds Writers Retreat (formerly the North Country Institute & Retreat for Writers of Color), a collaboration with the Center for Black Literature, the English Department at SUNY, Plattsburgh, and the Paden Institute and Retreat for Writers, provides a writing community where established and newly discovered writers of color can focus on the craft of writing and create cross-cultural conversations around the literature created by writers of the African diaspora. Deadline: January 10, 2025.