Next Conference is September 16-19, 2010

Lectures from '09 Conference

Lecture by Julia Connor (Get the lecture as a PDF file)

Lecture by William O’Daly (Get the lecture as a PDF file)

Lecture by Brenda Miller (Get the lecture as a PDF file)

Essay by William O'Daly (Get the essay as a PDF file)

Previous Faculty

Fiction

Creative Nonfiction

Poetry

Chris Coake

Pia Z. Ehrhardt

Sands Hall

Roy Parvin

John Reed

Gerald Haslam

Brenda Miller

Julia Connor

William O'Daly

Postcard

Surprise Valley Writers' Conference

“A Rural Setting for Serious Writing”

Limited Registration - Enroll Today !
Get the Official Brochure (1.8 MB PDF file)

View Photos from the '08 Conference

Keynote Speaker - BRENDA MILLER

Staff Roster

Judy Nolte TempleBrenda Miller has received five Pushcart Prizes and has been published in many journals, including Fourth Genre, Creative Nonfiction, The Sun, Utne Reader, The Georgica Rview and the Missouri Review. She is an Associate Professor of English at Western Washington University and serves as Editor-in-Chief of the Bellingham Review.

Chris Coake

Chris Coake, an assistant English professor at the University of Nevada, Reno, is the recipient of the prestigious PEN/Robert Bingham Fellowship for Writers for his debut work, “We’re in Trouble,” a collection of dramatic short stories.

Abigail Blosser photo

Julia Connor Julia Connor is Sacramento Poet Laureate 2005-2008. She began her studies at the Poetics Program of New College of California in San Francisco at the age of forty. There, from 1981 to 1987, she studied with poets Robert Duncan, Diane di Prima, and David Meltzer. Since 1988, she has taught poetry in a wide variety of situations from Graduate MFA Programs such as Naropa University's Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics where she was on the faculty, to state prisons. She teaches poetry workshops for all levels of experience, which she has presented at places as diverse as Nathan Mayhew Seminars, Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, and Emerson College, Sussex, England. Her honors include a Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission Literary Fellowship and a California Arts Council Literary Fellowship.

John ReedJohn Reed

John Reed is the author of two novels, “Thirteen Mountain" and "The Kingfisher’s Call,” as well as numerous shorter non-fiction works. He has conducted writing workshops, classes and seminars around the country for the past 20 years; his sensitive and insightful critiques have inspired hundreds of writers. His classes on the novel, short stories, essays and magazine writing have given many students a stepping stone to publication. John is a presenter at the Maui Writer’s Conference and the Santa Barbara Writer’s Conference.

William O'DalyWilliam O'Daly

-- Poetry --

O’Daly is a poet, translator, and fiction writer. His published works include eight books of the late and posthumous poetry of Chilean Nobel laureate Pablo Neruda and a chapbook of his own poems, The Whale in the Web. O’Daly was a finalist for the 2006 Quill Award in Poetry for Still Another Day and was profiled on NBC’s The Today Show. A National Endowment for the Arts Fellow, he has worked as a literary and technical editor and a college professor. He is a co-founder of prestigious Copper Canyon Press. With co-author Han-ping Chin, he recently completed a historical novel, This Earthly Life, based on the Chinese Cultural Revolution. Photo credit: Jill Engel-Cox.

Download the Official Brochure

Four-Day Schedule

Each day is composed of three-hour Writers’ Workshops in the morning and lectures and time to explore in the afternoon. A field trip will be held on Saturday afternoon and closing remarks will be made later in the day. Sunday’s schedule is set for final workshop sessions in the morning to accommodate early departures.

Fees/Meals

Conference fee: $429 per person. Does not include accommodations.

Meals: Two special dinners are included in the conference package. Friday evening there will be a spaghetti dinner and on Saturday a special Basque Barbecue by Danny the Basco. Breakfasts and lunches are not included.

Official brochure will be available for downloading April 1, 2009.

Limited Enrollment

The Surprise Valley Writers Conference is limited to a maximum of 50 participants.

Accommodations

Typical accommodations in Surprise Valley and neighboring Alturas range from motel rooms to ranch-style lodging to a hot springs spa. Rates vary from around $50 to $145 per night.

ADVISORY! Room accommodations in Surprise Valley are somewhat limited. We urge you to make your reservations as early as possible.

A partial listing of available accommodations:

Surprise Valley

Directions to Surprise Valley

See our map link
Also go to www.expediamaps.com
Or call us at (530) 279-2099.

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