Bread Loaf Writers' Conference
August 13-23, 2025
2025 Information and Applications
Updated on 02 17 25
The application period for the Junes conferences is now closed. BL Translators’ and BL Environmental offer rolling admissions, and notification is in process.
The application period for BL Writers’ in August is now closed. Notification letters will go out via Submittable in late May.
Note: There is a later deadline for the Middlebury College Student Participant Scholarships, which are available to current Middlebury College undergraduates and recent alumni. Click here for more information and to access the applications. Applications must be received by midnight EST on March 1.
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 15-21, 2025
Bread Loaf Translators' Conference
June 15-21, 2025
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.
Listen to Lectures and Readings
Enjoy our extensive archive of past lectures and readings from Conferences, including those below and many more.
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Lecturer Kareem James Abu-Zeid explored “‘Pleasing to the Ear? Practical Strategies for Translating Sound” as part of the Translators’ Conference.
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Special Guest Xochitl Gonzalez read Paloma Negra during the Opening Welcome for the Writers’ Conference.
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Pitchaya Sudbanthad lectured on “Drawing the Lines” at the Environmental Writers’ Conference.
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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.