Bread Loaf Writers' Conference

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The Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, called by The New Yorker, "the oldest and most prestigious writers' conference in the country" was founded in 1926. It is held every summer at the Bread Loaf Inn, near Bread Loaf mountain, east of Middlebury, Vermont. The conference is sponsored by Middlebury College and at its inception was very closely associated with Robert Frost, who attended a total of 29 sessions, according to The New Yorker. Frost lived in nearby Ripton.

Every other day for ten days, the 230 participants attend ten-person workshops, where their writing is assessed by the faculty and others in the workshop, including Scholars and Fellows. Numerous readings, craft classes, events, and agent meetings are also included. Michael Collier, a poet and professor at the University of Maryland and director of the conference, told Seven Days newspaper of Vermont the event shouldn't be confused with the more leisurely model of a writers' retreat. It's "designed for learning rather than for on-site writing." USA Today in a piece on summer literary gatherings, said of Bread Loaf, "There is nowhere in America where you can hear more great writers reading more great work in such a short space of time." Seven Days notes that participants are warned to pace themselves to avoid exhaustion.

According to Seven Days, the likelihood of general admission to Bread Loaf (in 2005) stood at about 17 percent, given a total applicant pool of 1,500. Of those accepted, 170 students pay full fare. These people are called Contributors (because they contribute to the workshops with their writing). The New Yorker wrote that the most coveted scholarships to Bread Loaf are the 25 "Waiterships," in which promising writers earn their keep by serving three meals a day to the paying guests. Besides the Waiterships, applicants who've been published can try for tuition scholarships, and those with a published book can become Bread Loaf Teaching Fellows. Waiters, Tuition Scholars, and Fellows are given the opportunity to give public readings.

Noted authors who have been associated with the conference over the years include James Brown, John Ciardi, Bernard DeVoto, Robert Frost, John Gardner, Donald Hall, John Irving, Shirley Jackson, Barry Lopez, Carson McCullers, Norman Mailer, Toni Morrison, May Sarton, Anne Sexton, Eudora Welty and Richard Yates

Recent Faculty have included Julia Alvarez, Andrea Barrett, Charles Baxter, Linda Bierds, Robert Boswell, Lan Samantha Chang, Robert Cohen, Ted Conover, Mark Doty, Percival Everett, Lynn Freed, Linda Gregerson, Patricia Hampl, Edward Hirsch, Brigit Pegeen Kelly, William Kittredge, Antonya Nelson, Carl Phillips, Natasha Trethewey, Ellen Bryant Voigt, Daniel Wallace and Dean Young.

Recent Fellows at the Conference have included Christopher Castellani, Geri Doran, Thomas Sayers Ellis, Ilya Kaminsky, Suji Kwock Kim, Naeem Murr, Peter Orner, Eric Puchner, Richard Siken, Monique Truong, Vendela Vida and C. Dale Young.

Well-known recipients of Waiterships have included Julia Alvarez, Amanda Davis, Carolyn Forche, Jonathan Galassi, Publisher and Editor in Chief of Farrar, Straus & Giroux, Tama Janowitz, Antonya Nelson and Joy Williams.

The Conference is currently administered by Michael Collier (Director), Jennifer Grotz (Assistant Director) and Noreen Cargill (Administrative Manager).

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