Summer Writing Camps for Adults: 2018 Edition

It just doesn’t seem fair. We watch our kids (or hear of kids that we know) get the whole summer off then go off to summer camp. Even college students on summer break have opportunities for adventurous excursions in the great outdoors.

And don’t get me started on all the summer writing camps for those under the age of adulting. Young writers can easily find a camp that fits their creativity needs, either at remote parts of the country or right down the street in their hometown.

Don’t worry. I found a loophole—and we adults now can also go to writing camp this summer!

What’s the catch? When we’re adults, we no longer can call it summer writing camp. Instead, it’s disguised as a “writer’s retreat” or “writing intensive.”

So where are all these great writing camps for adults this summer?

I did some solid research across the Internet and found some great experiences, from riding horses in Wyoming and hiking the Grand Canyon to sunrise yoga in Hawaii and police academy training—all designed for writers!

In order to qualify as a summer writing camp for adults, it had to meet camp criteria:

• Open to all writers
• Scenic location
• Lodging in a tent, cabin or historic house with charm
• Sessions during the warmer months of May through September
• Schedule dedicated to daily writing sessions

If the program took place dormitory-style on a college campus or completely indoors in a windowless hotel, it didn’t make the cut. And I didn’t add any writing conferences to the list.

Please note: I am not receiving financial benefits by listing any program below. The programs listed are discovered from my own research and summer writing camp criteria.

If you know of a summer writing camp for adults that isn’t listed below, please leave a note in the comments section and I’ll update my post.

Glad that’s out of the way!

So, where should you go to writing camp this summer? Check out my list:

Ongoing

• The Porches Writing Retreat
• Madeline Island School of the Arts – Writing Retreats
• Wellspring House Retreat
• The Good Contrivance Farm Writer’s Retreat

May

• River View Poetry Getaway (May 4–6)
• Writeaway by the River Workshop (May 4–6)
• Writeaway by the River Retreat (May 6–9)
• The Mokulē‘ia Writers Retreat (May 6–11)
• The Writer’s Sanctuary: Writing Unleashed (May 9–12)
• Novel-in-Progress Bookcamp & Writing Retreat (May 20–26)
• The James Jones Writers Workshop Retreat (May 27–June 3)

June

• Roads to Write (June 2–10)
• Literature and Landscape of the Horse (June 4–9)
• West of the Moon Writer’s Retreat (June 10–15)
• Interlochen’s Writers Retreat (June 11–14)
• Interlochen’s Mystery Writing Intensive (June 18–21)
• Barrelhouse Magazine Writer Camp (June 21–24)
• God’s Whisper Farm Writers’ Retreat (June 22–24)
• The Way of the Labyrinth Playwriting Retreat (June 22–29)
• Outpost (June 25–30)
• Writers Who Run (June 25–30)

July

• The White Mountain Retreat (July 8–13)
• Interlochen’s Fundamentals of Screenwriting (July 9–12)
• Summer Fishtrap Weeklong Gathering (July 9–15)
• Woodstock Mayapple Writers’ Retreat (July 19–25)

August

• Barrelhouse Magazine Writer Camp (August 1–5)
• Writeaway by the River Workshop (August 3–5)
• Writeaway by the River Retreat (August 5–8)
• Writers’ Police Academy (August 9–12)
• Taos Writing House (August 12–15)

September

• Plotting Madness Boot Camp (September 23–26)
• Self-Publishing Boot Camp (September 27–29)
• Scene Structure Boot Camp (September 30–October 3)

Is there an adult summer writing camp that isn’t on this post? Make a note of it in the comments section so that I can add it to this list!