The Southampton Writers Conference will celebrate its 50th summer this July. Held from July 9 to 13 on the campus of Stony Brook Southampton, the conference is offered as five immersive days of high-level workshops, lectures, and panel discussions led by acclaimed authors, editors and industry professionals.
Award-winning workshop leaders will include Billy Collins (poetry), Carmen Giménez (poetry), Chloé Cooper Jones (memoir), Matthew Kam (fiction/nonfiction), Kekla Magoon (middle grade/young adult), Lincoln Michel (speculative fiction), Lesléa Newman (picture book), Frederic Tuten (short story) and Azareen Van der Vliet Oloomi (novel).
“I’m so excited about the workshop leaders this summer,” said Christian McLean, director, Southampton Writers Conference and associate director, MFA in Creative Writing. “It is an incredible program with a distinguished history, and a thriving future. The 50th annual conference should be one of our best.”
Participants can hone their craft in fiction, poetry, memoir, children’s lit and more. In and out of the classroom, the 2025 workshops will be made up of small and intimate groups of 12 to 13 participants and designed for talented writers looking to take their craft to the next level. Attendees will meet with the same group every day in order to help foster strong relationships and provide insights to co-attendees’ work. On-campus housing will be provided for those accepted into the program.
There will also be a lecture series that will feature afternoon programming, salons, evening readings and social gatherings throughout the five days including talks and craft lectures by Carmen Giménez, Chloé Cooper Jones, and Azareen Van Der Vliet Oloomi. Night readings will be by Billy Collins, Matthew Klam, Susan Scarf Merrell, Carmen Giménez, Chloé Cooper Jones, Azareen Van Der Vliet Oloomi, Meg Wolitzer and others. The conference will culminate with a Saturday night performance from Manhattan-based “Selected Shorts,” featuring top-rate actors reading top-rate fiction.
Visit stonybrook.edu for details on the conference.
Staff Writer on May 31, 2025