Home from my favorite writers' conference

Plus: Writing Nights begin this Wednesday!

WRITING NIGHTS BEGIN THIS WEEK!

Join me for six weeks of co-writing starting this Wednesday, June 25.

Just $20. Paid subscribers get $5 off: promo code in the previous newsletter issue.

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BACK TO BREAD LOAF

I love Bread Loaf so much that I am considering painting my house the same shade of yellow as the Bread Loaf buildings.

the Bread Loaf barn

To prove how serious I am about this consideration: here is photo evidence of me down in the Bread Loaf basement, looking for the right paint can so I could steal the code. I found it. It’s a custom shade called “Bread Loaf Creame.”

Photo by my friend Michael Mercurio, who joined me on my secret basement mission.

I spent ten days back at Bread Loaf for the Environmental Writers’ Conference. Located up the hill from Middlebury, Vermont, Bread Loaf is a series of writers’ conferences that began in 1926. It was my third year there: my second on staff. When you attend Bread Loaf once, you’re able to apply to return on a work exchange scholarship. I got that scholarship, and this year, I returned to workshop my writing with Lydia Millet.

Bread Loaf is a uniquely intense experience. It’s a tiny campus surrounded by the green mountains, where the likes of Toni Morrison, Carson McCullers, Eudora Welty, John Irving, Anne Sexton, and problematic fave Robert Frost have all taught.

I get asked a lot if an experience like Bread Loaf is worth it. I always say yes. I’ve never felt a stronger sense of writing community, and I always leave the mountain feeling more serious than ever about my work.

The Bread Loaf hay field before the rain.

On Thursday morning, while the robins sang outside of the Little Theater’s screen doors, journalist Abe Streep gave a lecture on writing about disaster. You can listen to the lecture here.

There’s always one moment during the conference that unlocks something in me, and Abe’s lecture held the key this time around. I workshopped part of a new novel at Bread Loaf, which is set during hurricane season, and Abe’s lecture reminded me how very important it is to gather the details.

It’s always a little daunting to return home after something as impactful as Bread Loaf. I woke up this morning feeling overwhelmed by all I want to get down on the page. Where to even begin?

I think it’s a matter of starting with one detail at a time. Like a can full of Bread Loaf Creame.

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LET’S WRITE TOGETHER

Summer is here, and my Wednesday night accountability group starts this Wednesday, June 25, at 7:30pm EST.

If you’d like to come along: sign-ups are still open. Just $20.