Photo:  Jill Newton Moore

Clockhouse Writers' Conference & Retreat Coordinators

Coordinators:

Beth Andrasak
bandrasak@clockhouse.net

Jennifer Puk
jpuk@clockhouse.net

                                                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                                                                     Photo by Joe DuPont

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2019 Registration Forms Are Available Here

The 2019 Clockhouse Writers' Conference & Retreat will take place from July 1 through July 5 on Goddard College's Plainfield, Vermont, campus, with some participants staying on campus and others in area hotels (see registration materials for a list of suggestions).  Registration materials will be available here in February, 2019.  This Conference & Retreat is capped at 25 participants, and registrations are accepted on a first-come, first-serve basis.  Please note that, by registering for the CWC&R, you are agreeing to abide by Goddard College's Community Life Agreement and other applicable Policies.

What to Expect at the CWC Conference & Retreat

Each year's Conference & Retreat opens with a Plenary Panel featuring essay presentations on a theme chosen by consensus the previous year, and this Plenary Panel presentation is followed by a follow-up Q&A and discussion session.   During the days that follow, there are quiet times for writing, as well as times to choose to gather together as writers:  Works-in-Progress sessions provide opportunities for informal readings and feedback,  “Impromptu Hours,” allow participants to share a variety of writing prompts, and workshops led by conference attendees cover a broad range of topics, from elements of craft to the writer’s relationship to society and social issues.  The nationally-dispersed CWC Board of Stewards and CLOCKHOUSE editorial staff hold their annual in-person meetings during this time as well, and their discussions are brought back to the MFAW alumni community for its input at the Conference & Retreat's closing meeting.  Evenings are filled with formal readings—and often, informal gatherings and writings games.  At the same time, the CWC Conference & Retreat makes MFAW alumni available to the program’s current students as mentors, and it supports the program with such activities as its annual hosting of the closing party of the summer residency in Vermont and its unveiling of the most current issue of CLOCKHOUSE. 

We recognize that writing requires space and time in order to remain central in our lives, but that finding that space and time in writing retreats and conferences can be prohibitively expensive.  Part of the mission of CWC is to offer a truly professional and truly affordable writing Conference and Retreat.  To make this possible, each of the conference's participants contributes to its success.  Everyone signs up for a task during the conference (such as moderating a reading, leading a workshop or a works-in-progress session, or helping to decorate for the MFAW closing party). In short, Clockhouse Writers’ Conference is an ongoing MFAW alumni group with a continuing presence on campus, offering a vibrant and sustained community that can be part of a graduate's life long after the two-year program is over.

If you're an MFAW alum of either Goddard's MFAW program in Plainfield, Vermont, or Port Townsend, Washington, please consider joining us! Registration forms are available Here