THE WORKSHOPS at KETTLE POND
COVID-19 UPDATE:
Friday, March 13, 2020
After monitoring developments related to the novel coronavirus COVID-19, the difficult decision has been reached to cancel the 2020 Writers’ Conference. We are currently working on planning our 2021 Conference. Please see our Home Page and continue to check our website for more details. The workshop descriptions below were drafted for the 2020 conference but reflect planned course offerings for 2021.
Kettle Pond offers workshop sections for writers working in fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry. Writers working outside these genres, or who have a more self-directed project in mind, may prefer to apply to The Writers’ Residency.
All workshops meet daily during conference week. Individual meetings between writers and their faculty leaders are scheduled once the workshop has met on campus. Please note that while all applicants to The Workshops at Kettle Pond must submit a writing sample as part of their Conference Application, final manuscripts are not required in advance of the conference for generative workshops, and final manuscript guidelines vary between shortform and longform workshop sections.
Descriptions of our 2020 workshop offerings, including guidelines for final manuscripts, genres accepted, and workshop enrollment information, are listed below.
GENERATIVE WORKSHOPS
Capped at: 12 writers/workshop
Writing Sample required as part of application? Yes
Final Manuscript required for accepted writers? No
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Generative Poetry
A poetry workshop for poets of all levels of experience and writing backgrounds. Whether you’re feeling stuck, primarily work in another genre, or just didn’t write as many poems as you wanted to this year, this workshop will help you generate new material and reconnect with your craft. We started the Generative Poetry workshop as a kind of experiment at our inaugural conference, and are happy to say it’s back by popular demand. If the idea of submitting a manuscript has you feeling unsure of whether to apply for a workshop, we encourage you to consider this one.
Generative Prose
A prose workshop for writers of all levels of experience and writing backgrounds. Whether you’re working essays or fiction, lyric work, flash, autofiction, or that elusive first chapter of your book, all prose writers will come out of this workshop with new material and ways of approaching their craft. We had such strong feedback on our Generative Poetry workshop last year, as well as a generative essay talk led by one of our faculty, that we decided to add this new section specifically for prose writers looking for ways to engage with their writing as a daily practice.
SHORTFORM WORKSHOPS
Capped at: 12 writers/workshop
Writing Sample required as part of application? Yes
Final Manuscript required for accepted writers? Yes, see workshop descriptions
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Essay
An essay workshop for writers working in all styles of short creative nonfiction. Writers will receive and read each other’s work in advance and arrive at the conference prepared to engage with the work, and to give and receive written feedback. The workshop will also explore aspects of craft and revision through daily discussions. Specific assignments or outside readings for the workshop will be distributed in coordination with faculty following the receipt of final manuscripts.
Final Manuscript Guidelines: An essay or series of short essays totalling no more than
25 pages (double-spaced, 12-point serif font, with each piece beginning on a new page)
Poetry
A workshop for poets working in all forms and styles. Writers will receive and read each other’s work in advance and arrive at the conference prepared to engage with the work, and to give and receive written feedback. The workshop will also explore aspects of craft and revision through daily discussions. Specific assignments or outside readings for the workshop will be distributed in coordination with faculty following the receipt of final manuscripts.
Final Manuscript Guidelines: Either 5-10 poems or a maximum of 20 pages of poetry,
whichever cap is reached first
LONGFORM PROSE WORKSHOPS
Capped at: 6 writers/workshop
Writing Sample required as part of application? Yes
Final Manuscript required for accepted writers? Yes
Final Manuscript Guidelines: A book or book in process totaling no more than 225 pages (double-spaced, 12-point serif font, with each piece or chapter beginning on a new page)
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Fiction, Creative Nonfiction (& Everything In-between)
Workshop the entirety of your book-length manuscript (or manuscript in progress) in this small, intensive prose workshop. Whether you’re working on a novel or memoir, story or essay collection, biography, historical fiction, or another book-length fiction or nonfiction project, this workshop will give you the feedback you need to move forward with your project. Suitable for writers looking to expand and revise their current manuscripts, as well as those hoping to leave the conference with everything they need to polish and send out their work.
Genre Fiction
Join our new genre fiction workshop for feedback on your book-length manuscript or manuscript in progress! This small, intensive prose workshop is geared toward writers working in the genres of sci-fi, romance, and horror, as well as those with longform experimental work. With a small enrollment cap of just six writers, this small, intensive workshop will dig into craft as well as address aspects of marketing genre fiction. Not sure if your work fits here? Pitch us!