Summer Writing Camps for Adults: 2019 Edition

For years, I wondered why only kids get the chance to run away from all their problems and express their creativity through the ritual we call summer writing camp. This is something adults want too!

Thanks to you, I know I’m not alone. I wrote this blog post last year to see if it was only me that wanted a seasonal escape. Turns out, hundreds of you also want to spend a week of your summer somewhere full of adventure where your creative writing can run wild.

So the tradition of this list continues.

Like last year, my updated list of summer writing camp for adults only features opportunities that meet camp criteria:

• Accepts all writers (and still has availability for “campers” at the time of this post)
• Scenic location
• Lodging in a tent, cabin or historic building with charm
• Sessions during the warmer months of May through September
• Schedule dedicated to daily writing sessions

Some opportunities fell off the list. I discovered several offerings from last year aren’t available annually as well as a few that fell out of existence.

Fortunately, there are new ones I welcomed into the fold. Some new experiences I found for you this year include writing at Martha’s Vineyard, writing “field trips” to Keeneland and Kentucky’s Bourbon Trail, hiking the Adirondack Mountains and massages in between writing sessions. 

Not a bad way to spend the summer, huh? 

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. 

With all of that out of the way, 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

Gateless Writing Retreat (May 2–5)

The Mokulē‘ia Writers Retreat (May 5–10)

The Writer’s Sanctuary: Make Your Own Magic! (May 8–11)

Holy Ground Writing Retreat on Kentucky’s Bourbon Trail (May 15–19)

Writeaway by the River Workshop (May 17–19)

Writeaway by the River Retreat (May 19–21)

Novel-in-Progress BookCamp & Writing Retreat (May 19–25)

The James Jones Writers Workshop Retreat (May 26–June 1)

Literature and Landscape of the Horse (May 28–June 2)

 

June

Odyssey Writing Workshop (June 3–July 12)

The Moss Wood Retreats: Generative Workshop (June 4–9)

West of the Moon Writer’s Retreat (June 9–14)

The Martha’s Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing (June 9–22)

Interlochen’s Writers Retreat (June 10–13)

Wesleyan Writers Conference (June 12–16)

Sarah Lawrence College’s Summer Seminar for Writers (June 16–21)

Kenyon Review Writers Workshop (June 16–22)

Interlochen’s Mystery Writing Intensive (June 17–20)

Barrelhouse Magazine Writer Camp (June 20–23)

God’s Whisper Farm Writers’ Retreat (June 22–24)

The Way of the Labyrinth Playwriting Retreat (June 22–29)

Outpost on the Zumwalt Prairie (June 24–29)

Writers Who Run (June 17–22)

Nerissa Nields ADK Retreat (June 21–23)

Esalen Institute’s Writers’ Camp (June 23–28)

“Full-Bodied Writing” Summer Retreat (June 28–30)

 

July

Writeaway in New Mexico (July 6–13)

Wildacres Writing Workshop (July 6–13)

The White Mountain Retreat (July 7–12)

Kenyon Review Writers Workshop (July 7–13)

Tin House Summer Workshop (July 7–14)

Nerissa Nields’ Summer Writing Retreat (July 8–12)

Summer Fishtrap Gathering of Writers (July 8–14)

The Port Townsend Writers’ Conference (July 14–21)

Sewanee Writers’ Conference (July 16–28)

One Story Summer Writers Conference (July 21–26)

Barrelhouse Magazine Writer Camp (July 31–August 4)

 

August

Writers’ Police Academy’s MurderCon (August 1–4)

Taos Writing House (August 11–16)

Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference (August 14–24)

Interlochen’s Writing the World: A Creative Nonfiction Workshop (August 20–22)

 

September

Outpost on the Snake River (September 3–8)

Plotting Madness Boot Camp (September 22–25)

Self-Publishing Boot Camp (September 26–28)

Scene Structure Boot Camp (September 29–October 2)

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