July 28-August 1, 2025
$1,575
$1,475
$20
About the Conference
Our annual Writers’ Conference will take place this July at Poets House in Manhattan. Over the course of five days, writers will participate in workshops, attend craft lectures and panel discussions, give readings, and build community with one another against a backdrop of the scenic Manhattan waterfront. The conference is designed for fiction writers who are working towards completing a publishable manuscript.
What We Offer
Writing Workshops: At the start of each day, writers will participate in intensive workshop sessions. Each session is an opportunity for writers to not only gain actionable feedback on their work in progress from their classmates and workshop instructor, but learn valuable craft lessons by analyzing the work of fellow students.
Craft Lectures: Our roster of craft lectures are led by established authors and publishing professionals and explore fiction’s most important elements. Our 2025 lecturers are Jennifer Baker, Isle McElroy, Saïd Sayrafiezadeh, Anna Solomon, and Jeanne Thornton.
Panels: At our agent and editor panels, writers will learn the best practices for submitting their work to agents and literary magazines from industry professionals and ask questions about the process.
Featured Author Reading: Each year, one of our editors joins a One Story author who has recently published a book for an intimate conversation about the writing process. This event will be held at a local independent bookstore and will be open to conference students and the public. This year’s featured author will be Kerry Cullen, author the forthcoming debut novel House of Beth.
Student Readings: Student readings are a chance for conference attendees in different workshop groups to connect and hear each other’s work in a low-pressure, supportive environment. Readings are open to workshop participants and One Story staff.
"The quality of work and the teaching amounted to this being the best conference workshop I've ever attended."
Conference Instructors
Gina Chung
Gina Chung is a Korean American writer from New Jersey currently living in New York City. She is the author of the short story collection Green Frog, which was a Good Morning America Book Buzz Pick and longlisted for the 2024 New American Voices Award, and the novel Sea Change, which was longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, a 2023 B&N Discover Pick, an APALA Adult Fiction Honor Book, and a New York Times Most Anticipated Book. A recipient of the Pushcart Prize, she is a 2021-2022 Center for Fiction/Susan Kamil Emerging Writer Fellow and holds an MFA in fiction from The New School.
Manuel Gonzales
Contributing Editor
Manuel Gonzales is the author of the collection, The Miniature Wife and other stories, as well as the novel, The Regional Office is Under Attack! He currently serves as the fiction editor for The Bennington Review and as a contributing editor for American Short Fiction and One Story magazine. He lives in New England where he teaches literature and creative writing at Bennington College and serves as a faculty member for the Bennington Writing Seminars.
Hannah Tinti
Co-Founder & Executive Editor
Hannah Tinti is the co-founder and executive editor of One Story magazine. She is the author of the bestselling novel The Good Thief, which won The Center for Fiction’s first novel prize, and the story collection Animal Crackers, a runner-up for the PEN/Hemingway Award. Her most recent novel, The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley, is a national bestseller and is in development for television. She co-founded the Sirenland Writers Conference in Italy and has taught writing at New York University’s Graduate Creative Writing Program, Columbia University’s MFA program, CUNY, and at the Museum of Natural History in New York City. For more information please visit hannahtinti.com.
"This was a grounded, practical, and energizing week of intensive focus on craft in a very human, accessible way."
Poets House
Poets House is a nonprofit poetry library and community center located in Battery Park City on the Manhattan waterfront with a mission “to document the wealth and diversity of modern poetry, to stimulate dialogue on issues of poetry in culture, and to cultivate a wider audience for the art.” While the One Story conference is fiction-focused, summer conference students are welcome to explore and utilize the newly remodeled space and browse their extensive poetry library and collection of literary magazines.
“It felt that every moment I was at the conference, I was continually affirmed as a writer.”
Application Guidelines:
Applications open January 6, 2025.
EXTENDED DEADLINE: February 10, 11:59PM ET
There is a $20 nonrefundable application fee. All applications must be sent through Submittable. All applicants will be notified of acceptance by mid-April 2025.
We are seeking applicants who are excited to be part of a literary community and ready for a fun and productive conference. Applicants should submit a 5000 word writing sample along with a personal statement. Complete application guidelines are available on the application.
Applicants will be chosen based on the strength of their writing sample and their personal statement.
Please note that you will need to create a Submittable account in order to complete the application.
Fees:
Application Fee: $20 (non-refundable)
Conference Fee: $1,575 (Member Price: $1,475)
The cost of the conference includes:
- Workshops (no more than 10 people) where you’ll receive focused feedback on your work
- Craft lectures by visiting authors to improve your skills
- Panels of publishing professionals to connect you with the business side of writing
- A fifteen-minute private conference with your workshop instructor
- Morning coffee and tea service and evening wine and cheese mingles
- A welcome breakfast on Monday morning at the conference’s start
- A farewell dinner at the conclusion on Friday evening
The cost of the conference does not include:
- Travel
- Meals (except those listed above)
- Lodging
Sample Conference Schedule:
(All times are in ET. Times are tentative. The schedule will vary from day to day, but this is an idea of what an average conference day looks like.)
9:45am
Coffee, tea, & light snacks
10:00am – 12:30pm
Workshop
2:00pm – 3:15pm
Craft lecture
4:00pm – 5:15pm
Student Reading
6:30pm – 7:30pm
Industry Panel
7:30pm – 8:30pm
Reception
F.A.Q
Do you offer financial aid or scholarships for this conference?
One Story will be offering two reduced-fee scholarships for NYC area-based BIPOC writers (applicants should live in one of the five boroughs). If you would like to be considered for one of these scholarships, please fill out the Scholarship Application when applying for the conference. Scholarship applications will open on January 6, when our general applications open.
*All writers applying for scholarships will also be considered for general admission to the conference. If you will not be able to attend the conference without financial aid, please let us know in your application.
Is it possible to waive the application fee?
Yes. If the application fee for the conference is too much of a financial burden, please email edu.support@one-story.com and we will waive the fee. Please specify whether you are applying with the scholarship application or the general application in your email.
Is the conference accessible?
Yes. Poets House is equipped with an elevator and is wheelchair-accessible.
"It's a very transformative and educational experience, not to mention inspirational! It has validated me as a writer, but also has changed my views of the publishing industry and the writing process, and for the better."
