Chesapeake Writers' Conference
Join us for a week of craft talks, lectures, panel discussions, and readings, as well as daily workshops in fiction, poetry, or creative nonfiction.
Write Your Story, Find Your Champions
Come engage with our rich community of writers about the art and craft of writing.
Workshops, Lectures, & TalksGet Credit!
Both college and graduate credit (for teachers’ professional development) are available.
Course CreditYouth Workshop
Work closely with our award-winning faculty and practice a wide range of genres and styles, from prose poems to TV scripts.
More InfoAcclaimed Faculty
Heather Green, poetry
Jerry Gabriel, fiction
Robin McCullough, youth workshop
Angela Pelster, creative nonfiction
Crystal Oliver, director
Read Bios
The thirteenth annual Chesapeake Writers’ Conference will be held from June 21 to June 27 on the St. Mary’s College campus in St. Mary’s City, Maryland. The Conference features daily Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, and Youth Workshops (the latter for high school-age writers) and a dynamic schedule of lectures, craft talks, readings, and panel discussions. Recent workshop faculty include Heather Green, Phillis Levin, Patricia Henley, Jerry Gabriel, Matt Burgess, Angela Pelster, Eva Freeman, Robin McCullough, Melissa Scholes-Young and Nadeem Zaman. There is no application fee. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis; registration is ongoing on a first-come, first-served basis until we reach capacity. See the Fees & Registration page for more information.
We hope you’ll join us for words, water, and woods this summer.
Write on the river,
Crystal Oliver
Director, Chesapeake Writers’ Conference
Accessibility accommodations include elevators in all multilevel event spaces; accessible sidewalks, pathways, doorways, and parking; and ADA-compliant event spaces and restrooms. Contact the St. Mary’s College Office of Accessibility Services at (240) 895-2250, (240) 895-4327 for TTY service, or adasupport@smcm.edu for additional accessibility details.