Description
Since 2007, the Writers Retreat for Emerging LGBTQ Voices has offered sophisticated instruction in fiction, nonfiction, poetry, young adult fiction, playwriting led by the most talented writers working today. In 2022, the Writers Retreat expanded to include instruction in screenwriting and speculative fiction, and in 2025, we will introduce the newest cohort serving writers working in both and between playwriting and screenwriting.
In 2025, as we did in 2024, we are holding our Writers Retreat online. This format allows for us as an organization to continue building our resources while offering the same high-quality programming that remains accessible to folks who may not otherwise be able to attend in-person programs.
We are excited to announce that this year, we will be lengthening the typically week-long program to a 10-day virtual retreat, from Thursday, July 31-Saturday, August 9. In this new model, we will use the first two evenings on Thursday and Friday to build community and hold additional programming. We hope that this new model will build relationships and community, offer more learning opportunities, but we also aim to allow those attending the retreat from home to continue to sustain the elements of their livelihood outside of the Retreat program.
Additionally, we will be adding a brand new cohort to our Writers Retreat: the screen/play/writing cohort. This cross-genre cohort is meant for performance writers who work outside of the stage/screen binary, those who waft between genres, and those who are working in adaptations. We invite all screenwriters and playwrights in this cohort to consider how their work can move between genres, between stage and screen, while centering writing for performance. Coming back for another year after an astounding stint as Playwriting Faculty in 2024, we welcome back Roger Q. Mason to lead this inaugural cohort!
Dates: July 31-August 9, 2025
Venue: Virtual
Tuition: Right now, tuition is set at $1,625. However, we are actively fundraising to lower the cost of tuition, with the goal of getting it down to the more affordable price of $1,100. You can learn more and donate at our fundraising page. Additionally, we have a limited number of full and partial scholarships available.
Applying: Applications for the Writers Retreat are open from November 1, 2024-December 8, 2024, at 11:59 PM EST.
There is a $30 application fee. We are offering a number of application fee waivers for the QTBIPOC** (Queer and Trans folks who are or identify as Black, Indigenous, and Persons of Color) members of our community applying for a fellowship who would be attending the Retreat for the first time (excluding Writers in Residence). Waivers are given out on a first-come-first serve basis, secure yours sooner rather than later! Email retreat@lambdaliterary.org to request a waiver.
Our application review is done in three stages by a team of Retreat Alumni, our Program Manager, and Retreat Faculty. Our application process is unique in that each Faculty member chooses their own cohort.
