Bread Loaf Writers' Conference
August 11-21, 2027
The Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, founded in 1926, is one of the oldest and finest of its kind in the country.
It is the cornerstone to the three Bread Loaf Conferences, which include the Writers’ Conference, the Environmental Writers’ Conference, and the Translators’ Conference.
In all the programs, you’ll experience the Bread Loaf model, which includes small-group workshops scheduled among enriching readings and lectures.
Each summer, our faculty members include some of the world’s most notable writers and translators.
The Conferences
Bread Loaf Environmental Writers' Conference
June 13-19, 2027
Bread Loaf Translators' Conference
June 13-19, 2027
A Collaborative Community
Our Conferences are diverse and inclusive communities giving voice to writers of all ages and experience. Rather than working in solitude, writers come together to test their assumptions of literature and seek advice on their progress as writers. Open-mindedness, respect, and appreciation are truly valued here, and each person can thrive and benefit from their time on the mountain.
The Bread Loaf Writers' Conferences in Photos
A faculty member during the 1976 Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, Toni Morrison offers a lecture in the Little Theater and later in the conference will read from her book Song of Solomon that will be published the following year. Listen to Toni Morrison read from Song of Solomon in the Little Theater.
Nancy Willard’s Bread Loaf Egg Collection
While at Bread Loaf during the 1980s and 90s, Nancy Willard asked authors to sign wooden eggs that she would then paint and decorate. “In addition to her writing, my mother created a lot of handmade objects,” her son, James Lindbloom, shared in the donation letter. The collection of nearly three dozen hand painted and decorated eggs are part of Special Collections in the Middlebury College Davis Family Library. Read more about the collection here.
Listen to Lectures and Readings
Enjoy our extensive archive of past lectures and readings, including those below and many more.
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Mónica de la Torre read from her book Pause the Document and shared new translations during the Bread Loaf Translators’ Conference.
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Jericho Brown read new poems and poems from his books Please and The New Tradition during the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference.
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Jennifer Chang explored “Extinctions: Against Forgetting” during her Bread Loaf Environmental Writers’ Conference lecture.
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Our Mission
The Bread Loaf Writers’ Conferences provide a time-tested model of instruction for writers, especially in their early stages, to strengthen their command of literary craft, to examine their assumptions about the art, and to seek advice about works-in-progress.
Immersive learning experiences that take place in both national and international contexts, Bread Loaf Writers’ Conferences bring together diverse and talented communities of writers to take part in workshops, lectures, readings, classes, meetings with professionals in the publishing industry, and other programming aiming to prepare, educate, and inspire.