Bread Loaf Translators' Participant Page 2025

We’re looking forward to working with you and to welcoming you in June!

Bread Loaf fosters communities where open-mindedness, respect, and appreciation are truly valued and where each person can thrive and benefit from their time on the mountain.

Below you will find details about the information and materials needed in order to prepare for the session. In the months and weeks leading up to the conference, we’ll post information and updates to this web page. We’ll send an email to let you know when new information is available and to keep you informed of upcoming deadlines.

If you think of any questions, please let us know.  We’re looking forward to staying in touch with you and getting to know you a bit before we all meet in person at Bread Loaf.

Noreen Cargill, Administrative Director
Jason Lamb, Coordinator

Acceptance Materials

• Deposit – due by the date noted in your acceptance letter

—Please make the $300 deposit check out to Middlebury College
—Be sure the participant’s full name is noted on the check
—Be sure “BL Translators’” is noted on the check
—Send the check by regular mail to:

Bread Loaf Translators’ Conference
Middlebury College
204 College St.
Middlebury, VT 05753

For those unable to send a check for the deposit, it’s possible to instead pay in full when the online invoice becomes available in April; contact office staff at blt@middlebury.edu for details.

Read about the Payment Schedule and Cancellation Policy.

• Workshop Leader Choice & Directory Form - due by the date noted in your acceptance letter

Workshop Leader Choice & Directory Form

• Participant Bio and Photo Upload Form - due by the date noted in your acceptance letter

Participant Bio and Photo Form

• Travel Information

Visit the Travel Information Page to find helpful information as you begin to plan your trip. Participants arriving by plane contact Vermont Tour and Charter to arrange a shared taxi. See more details via the link.

Middlebury College Disability Resource Center

The Disability Resource Center provides confidential services and reasonable accommodations for students who have disabilities affecting any of the following: learning, vision, hearing, speech, mobility, physical health, and psychological health.

For more specific information, see the Accommodation Request Form for Summer Programs as well as an overview of Middlebury’s ADA Policy and Procedures. If you submit the Accommodation Request Form, please enter “Bread Loaf Translators’ Conference” in the Summer Program field and note “not yet available” in the College ID field.

Health and Safety on Camps this Summer

Covid-19

Specific COVID-19 protocols will be announced in the time leading up to conference. 

See the conference Covid-19 page for 2025 information.

Required Measles Proof of Immunity 

The Vermont Department of Health is requiring that all Bread Loafers be able to provide proof of immunization from measles before the start of our summer sessions. In the time leading up to the conference participants are assigned a temporary Middlebury email and given access to a secure form for uploading their proof of immunity document. In the meantime, please note that there will be three options for fulfilling this requirement of measles immunization:

1. obtain proof of immunization from already extant records;
2. get a blood test that proves immunity from a doctor or clinic;
3. get an immunization shot for measles (MMR) from a local pharmacy or doctor and provide proof of it.

Note: Individuals born prior to January 1, 1957 are assumed to be immune to measles and do not have to provide proof of immunity. Instead of uploading a proof of immunity document via the forthcoming secure form, these individuals will provide a document showing their date of birth. 

You’ll find more details about measles and the College’s approach on Middlebury’s measles information website. (We’ll be in touch this spring with more details about your temporary Middlebury email and access to the secure form.)   
 

Conference Materials

For the following sections we will post information as it becomes available. We’ll send you an email to let you know when each of these may be accessed. See details regarding the posting schedule below.

Dates subject to change - updated on 01 29 25

• Request for Translation Manuscript for Workshop Critique (for those participating in a Manuscript Workshop) - due by April 4

We’re making the link to the manuscript upload form available now (see above) and will send a reminder email closer to the due date.

Participants may send the same manuscript that they submitted with their application or choose to send a different manuscript but from the same project. (The manuscript must be in the same genre as the application manuscript—prose or poetry.) Please note that the manuscript for workshop critique must consist of material that has not yet been published in book form or included in an anthology or journal. 

The manuscript format and guidelines will be the same as they were during the application process: up to 4,000 words of prose, and up to eight pages for poetry. Please note that the faculty member often selects a portion of the manuscript to focus on during the group workshop and may choose to address the work as a whole during the individual meeting.

• Agent/Editor Meeting Sign-Up 

Please sign up for agent/editor meetings by Monday, April 14.

• Notification Regarding Workshop Leader

This notification will be sent via email rather than posted here. The email will go out on April 25. 

• Bread Loaf Handbook

Available on May 5.

The Bread Loaf Handbook includes a suggested packing list and information regarding workshops, readings, housing, meals, Wi-Fi access, and cell phone service, among other details.

• Access to Student Translation Manuscripts (for those participating in a Manuscript Workshop), and access to Packet of Reading Provided by the Workshop Leader (for those participating in the Introductory Workshop). 

Available on May 16. 

• First Assignment

Available on May 16. 

Each faculty member provides an assignment for participants to complete in time for the first workshop on the mountain.

• Newcomer’s Guide

Available on May 16.

We invite everyone to take a look at the information included in the forthcoming Newcomer’s Guide. Though created especially for those new to Bread Loaf and those taking part in the manuscript workshops, we think it will be helpful for all to read while preparing for the conference.

New England Review Special Offer for Bread Loafers