Conference
2026 Jackson Hole Writers Conference Schedule Overview
Subject to change. Schedule overview updated monthly.
JH Writers
P.O. Box 3871
Jackson, WY 83001
307-200-5858
Wednesday, October 21, 2026
PRE-CONFERENCE ARRIVALS & SOCIAL ACTIVITIES
Arrivals before 5:00 are invited to explore Jackson Hole and Grand Teton National Park.
4:00 – 6:00 pm – Spirits and Spice
PUBLIC EVENT – Sip and Write generative writing time with author Maria Kelson
6:00 – 9:00 pm – Alpine House
PUBLIC EVENT – Written Foods | Eaten Words – Kick-off reading and open mic with conference faculty, local faculty, attendees and public
Thursday, October 22, 2026
INTENSIVE WORKSHOPS BEGIN. A FULL AFTERNOON OF EVENTS AT THE CENTER FOR THE ARTS. EVENING FACULTY READING & CONVERSATION.
Early morning
Guided writing time with prompts from local authors. Open to the public.
9:00 am – 12:00 pm
Intensive workshops for accepted applicants.
Exploration of Jackson Hole and Grand Teton National Park for afternoon-only conference attendees. Optional activity with a local author.
12:00-1:30
Lunch break. Lunch provided for workshop participants.
12:30-1:30
Manuscript critiques for afternoon -only conference registrants.
1:30-3:30
Afternoon conference.
- Welcoming remarks by JH Writers Executive Director, Matt Daly
- Author Presentation: The Architecture of Empathy with Nina McConigley
- Editors panel with Naomi Gibbs, Ethan Nosowsky, Emily Bell, Kristina Marie Darling & Tiffany Troy
3:30-5:15
Craft Classes.
- Turning the Page from Writer to Author: How to Build a Writing Career
with author Mallory O’Meara and agent Amy Bishop-Wycisk
Join literary agent Amy Bishop-Wycisk and bestselling and award-winning author Mallory O’Meara as they discuss what it takes to go from writing for yourself to becoming a professional author. There is so much more to building a writing career aside from just the writing, and Amy and Mallory will draw on their years of experience to teach you what it takes to plan and create a career for the long term. Among other points, this class will cover creating a sustainable writing schedule, author branding, looking at writing as a business, and most importantly, when it is viable to start thinking about becoming a full time author. - Beyond the Forest and the Trees: Layers of Landscape and Place with author Claire Boyles
The author Robert Macfarlane writes: “The best of the recent [nature] writing is ethically alert, theoretically literate and wary of the seductions and corruptions of the pastoral. It is sensitive to the dark histories of landscapes and to the structures of ownership and capital that organise – though do not wholly produce – our relations with the natural world.” To capture this complexity of place, writers must describe the immediate sensory experience of the story (the trees) and the way those physical details operate on character and story tension (the forest). They must also portray, to some degree, the historical and political contexts surrounding both (the atmosphere). In exploring these layers of landscape and place, writers will learn techniques for widening the scope of their work.
5:15-6:00
Social hour
6:00-7:30
Literary Citizenship: Faculty reading/conversation, book sale & signing with Maile Chapman, Nina McConigley, Michelle Orange and Tiffany Troy
7:30-
Dinner with new writer friends. Fun around town.
Friday, October 23, 2026
INTENSIVE WORKSHOPS CONTINUE. A FULL AFTERNOON OF EVENTS AT THE CENTER FOR THE ARTS. A SECOND EVENING FACULTY READING & CONVERSATION.
Early morning
Guided writing time with prompts from faculty. Open to the public.
9:00 am – 12:00 pm
Intensive workshops for accepted applicants.
Exploration of Jackson Hole and Grand Teton National Park for conference attendees. Optional activity with a local author.
12:00-1:30
Lunch break. Lunch provided for workshop participants.
1:30-3:00
Afternoon conference.
- Author Presentation: Dog Days: New Challenges, New Frameworks in Mid-Career with Michelle Orange
- Agents panel with Amy Bishop-Wycisk & Kate Garrick
3:30-5:15
Craft Classes.
- Up from the Slush Pile: Query Letters and Finding the Right Agent for Your Work
with agent Kate Garrick
Queries can be a source of anxiety for writers, possessing as they seem to the power to break one’s work out or to condemn it to the purgatory of the slush pile. But a query letter isn’t otherworldly; it’s a cover letter. In this class, students will learn the basics of the querying process, from identifying the best agents for their work to writing a query letter that will grab those agents’ attention. - Craft class on narrative voice with Maile Chapman
5:15-6:00
Social hour
6:00-7:30
Literary Citizenship: Faculty reading/conversation, book sale & signing with Claire Boyles, Laura Munson, Mallory O’Meara, and Kristina Marie Darling.
7:30-
Dinner with new writer friends. Fun around town.
Saturday, October 24, 2026
INTENSIVE WORKSHOPS CONCLUDE. A FULL AFTERNOON OF CONFERENCE ACTIVITIES AT THE CENTER FOR THE ARTS. EVENING PARTICIPANT READING & CELEBRATION.
Early morning
Guided writing time with prompts from local authors. Open to the public.
9:00 am – 12:00 pm
Intensive workshops for accepted applicants.
Exploration of Jackson Hole and Grand Teton National Park for conference attendees. Optional activity with a local author.
12:00-1:30
Lunch break. Lunch provided for workshop participants.
1:30-3:00
Afternoon conference.
- Author presentation
- Editors Roundtable – ask questions and engage in one-on-one conversations with conference faculty editors
3:30-5:00
Craft classes.
- The Art of Literary Interviews with Tiffany Troy
This craft class will focus on the art of crafting, conducting, and placing literary interviews of writers and poets. It will cover the nuts & bolts of requesting copies from publishers, connecting with writers, reading the book/ collection holistically with an eye towards structure, craft, and theme, writing up guideline questions, conducting the interview, editing the transcript, the etiquette of placement, and platforming the published interview. Ultimately, the goal is to develop literary denizens with an interest to share their love of literature with a bigger audience.
- Master the Scene & Master Creative Writing with Laura Munson
You have likely heard the Creative Writing 101 phrase: Show Don’t Tell. Laura puts it like this: “The show is the scene. The tell is the reporting on the scene, the analysis of it, the scanning of time between scenes, or the set up for another scene.” Laura believes that the scene is where narrative happens most, just like in life. “We may begin a manuscript with a theme or a central question that we want to explore by writing into it. But it’s the scene that engages the reader. We live our life in scenes. The scene is the infrastructure which holds up the theme. I actually believe that the phrase should be Show AND Tell. There is a place for both the show and the tell.” In this class, Laura will break down the craft of scene writing, while teaching where an author can weave in the tell. There will be teaching, as well as time to write, so bring your notebooks and pens. You will leave with serious craft instruction and illumination which will help keep your pen moving long after the class and conference.
5:00-6:00
Social hour
6:00-7:30
Workshop and conference participant reading. Open to the public.
Conference closing.
7:30-
Dinner with new writer friends. Fun around town.
Sunday, October 25, 2026
Early morning
Guided writing time with prompts from faculty. Open to the public.
9:00-11:00
Final optional craft class with a local author.
Departures.