Bear River Writers' Conference | U-M LSA Bear River Writers' Conference

Camp Michigania Located on the shores of Walloon Lake in Northern Michigan, Camp Michigania provides comfortable accommodations for the Bear River Writers’ Conference in a picturesque and peaceful location.

Online Registration Begins February 5, 2018 The conference will run from May 31 - June 4, 2018. Our faculty offer workshops in fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction, as well as in essay-writing. Bear River workshops are distinguished by their emphasis on new work.

Scholarships for 2018 Conference A limited number of full or partial scholarships will be offered to writers who plan to attend the conference. To apply, visit our Scholarships page.

Area Tourism The site of the Bear River Writers' Conference, Camp Michigania, is only minutes from the popular northern Michigan resort towns of Boyne City, Charlevoix, Petoskey, Harbor Springs and East Jordan.

Bear River Review The reason the Bear River Writers' Conference exists is to encourage new writing. Here we’ve created a space for people who have been a part of the conference to share their writing with their colleagues and with any other reader who may come across the Reviews. For more information on the Bear River Review, visit our Finished Work page.

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Attention 2018 Bear River Writers!

This summer, we are offering manuscript consultation with David James. He is the author of My Torn Dance Card, a finalist in both the Next Generation Indie and Book Excellence Awards. He has published three books, six chapbooks of poetry, and more than thirty of his one-act plays have been produced across the country. Currently a teacher of writing at Oakland Community College, he will be able to provide helpful insight to works in progress. David will have time for about twelve consultations and we will fill those spots on a first come, first serve basis. Please send 1-10 pages of previously written work to ricomo@umich.edu before May 1st, 2018.

Be a Victor

We strive to support our students and faculty on the front lines of learning and research; to steward our planet, our community, our campus. To do this, Bear River Writers' Conference needs you—because the world needs Victors.

The Bear River Writers’ Conference is a place where writers can enjoy the beauty of Northern Michigan and meet writers from all over the country. We hope to bring people with general literary interests together with those who are interested in writing about place and the natural environment. We hope the mix will create new ideas that would send writers home with good work to continue. We hope the shores of Walloon Lake, which have already inspired one American classic, Hemingway’s Nick Adams stories, will be a good place to accomplish that goal. After ten years of conferences, and a number of successful publications, it seems to be working!

- Keith Taylor
Director, Bear River Writers' Conference

BIG Bear River News

The Bear River Writers' Conference is pleased to announce that beginning in 2019, the Co-Directors of the conference will be Laura Kasischke and Cody Walker!