Among the Vines: Thoughts on the Napa Valley Writers' Conference
I have a theory that poems are always trying to get my attention. They follow me like children begging to play, but I can’t hear them because the rest of the world —the emails, the rent, the deadlines— is too loud. I’m constantly trying to find new ways to carve out time for my art. As someone with a full time job, two side hustles and a child under two, it remains a constant challenge.
Because of this, I try to find different opportunities each year, where I can find quiet, where I can step away from the rest of the loudness— to listen and invite poetry in. Often, but not always, this involves going away to a week-long retreat, workshop or what I like to call Poetry Camp. Poetry Camp gives me the opportunity to focus only on poetry and poetry alone. Everything is in service of poetry. Here: I read poems, discuss poems, write poems, revise poems and spend time with other poets. Here: the poems come fast and furious with a where-have-you-been and we’ve-been-waiting-fo- you type of energy.
Immersed in poetry I usually write some of my best poems, because I finally have the space, time, focus and energy to do so.
Because I am a feral poet, meaning I never got an MFA or studied poetry in an academic setting, I’m always hungry to learn. Workshops and retreats have been one of the most beneficial ways not only to see the United States, focus on my work and get to know many different poets from around the world.
When deciding where to go I usually decide which workshops to attend because of the faculty. I have attended: Tin House Winter Workshop, Virginia Quarterly Review (VQR Review) Conference, Open Mouth Poetry Retreat, Martha's Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing (MVICW), and the Napa Valley Writers’ Conference (NVWC).
After returning home from Napa and sharing some photos on social media, I had multiple people reach out to ask about my experience. As poets, I think we need to be transparent about our experiences (mine was stellar) to help people decide if it is worth their time and money. I thought it would be helpful to give an honest review so others can decide if the experience is right for them.
Faculty. As mentioned before, faculty is how I make the decision to attend any retreat. This year Napa Valley the following faculty:
Poetry: Jane Hirshfield, Major Jackson, Dana Levin, Patricia Smith (who was ill so the incredible Lynne Thompson stepped in for her).
Fiction: Kevin Brockmeier, Lan Samantha Chang, Michelle Huneven, ZZ PackerTranslation: Forrest Gander
As you might know that this faculty is among some of the most decorated, esteemed and prolific in the contemporary literary scene. Many of the poets are known for their life-changing guidance and brilliant writing. Patricia Smith and Jane Hirsfield were the number one reason I applied to this conference. I was selected to be in Jane Hirshfiled’s workshop and she did not disappoint.
Application. The application for NVWC was a little more work than a conference like Virginia Quarterly Review Conference (VQR), which only required a sample of 10 pages of poetry and no submission fee.
To apply for Napa you needed to submit:
A 500 word or less statement about your background, goals and interest in the conference.
5 poems
A $25 reading fee
The application is due around May 1 and you are notified the first week of June, which is a very fast turnaround. I was waitlisted this year, but was told that they would fill the wait list aggressively. I emailed back to ask when I would know and they already had a spot for me. Many of the poets I spoke to, phenomenal poets, had been waitlisted. One of the reasons for this I believe is once you attend, you are automatically accepted the next two following years without needing to resubmit your application.
Community. Because past attendees are grandfathered in, there are many attendees who have been to the conference before. One poet had been there 20 times, another 3 times. This definitely makes people feel more comfortable in workshops, which is something to keep in mind. NVWC seems to also make sure there is room for local poets, which I appreciate. Their emphasis is on building a community, but also supporting the artists community of Napa.
There was a mix of attendees, some hadn’t written in 20 years, some were just getting started and others were publishing in top tier journals. There was also a range of ages from twenty somethings to seventy plus. This was overall, probably due to the cost and location, the conference skews older. Because of this, I did not feel the caliber of poets was as competitive as some other conferences like Tin House or MVICW (who awards a generous amount of fellowships) but that is not necessarily a bad thing.
Structure. The structure was my favorite thing about the conference. This is both a generative and critique conference. I have been to many conferences where you are only workshops, which I think leads to a more competitive and individual experience.
Here was the daily structure:
8:00-9:00 Breakfast
9:00-10:00 Poetry Craft Talk
10:15-12:30 Workshop
12:30-1:30 Lunch
1:30-2:30 Craft Lecture
3:00-4:00 Community Workshop
6:30-8:30 Nightly Readings
Every day at my workshop with Jane Hirshfield, we would get a poetry prompt. We would have less than 24 hours to write a poem. The next morning we would print out a poem and a staff member would make copies for workshops.
During workshops each poet would get 8 minutes for feedback. The first four minutes they read their poem and heard from the group. The next four amazing minutes, Jane would give her comments. I also received a 15 minute one-on-one conference with Jane.
During the conference I received comments from Jane on six poems and I wrote five solid new drafts.
This is one of the most exciting, balanced and beneficial workshop models I have ever seen. The comments Jane gave transformed my poems in minutes. She gave actionable edits for my poem while providing applicable writing tips that you could apply to any poem. However, it only works if you have a workshop leader who is well structured and sticks to a tight time frame. Jane has taught at Napa for years and knows the model well, but each experience depends on your instruction.
Since most things are optional, the craft talks, community workshops, etc. There is lots of free time to go explore, drink wine, or have down time to nap or write. One of my critiques about the conference was that the nightly readings started with a wine reception at 6:30 and readings didn’t start sometimes until 7:15. Many of the featured readers went over and sometimes they were not finished until 8:45, which made it very difficult to make dinner in time. Many of the restaurants close at 9pm and will not seat people after 8:30.
We were in one of the most delicious places in the world, a place where you wanna savor wine and the culinary creations and every restaurant was either rushing us to order or putting up chairs when we were on our appetizers. If the readings started a little earlier and people stuck to their set time, this would be an easy problem to fix.
Studying with Jane Hirshfield. This was one of the most transformative weeks of my poetry career because of Jane Hirshfield. She has been teaching at Napa for maybe twenty plus years and gave me tips that will change my work forever. If you want to hear the top ten gems I learned from her and others, join me on Instagram Live tonight at 5pm PT under the handle @kellygracethomas.
Setting. Napa Valley is one of the most beautiful places on earth. I’m blessed to live 30 minutes outside of Napa so the commute was not far. Even though I lived so close I chose to stay in a hotel so I could be fully immersed. The town is breathtaking with some of the best restaurants and wineries on earth.
However, I think it is important to note that there is a good amount of wine. They serve it before readings and at the community dinner. I overheard a few people who do not drink bothered by its presence. You can absolutely attend the conference and never drink. I don't think it would change the experience too much, but I love wine, so I am not sure I can objectively say. However, know that if you attend this conference there is a lot of (delicious) wine. It's a draw for some and a complaint for others.
Cost. Poetry conferences and retreats are expensive. I teach poetry workshops just so I can pay for other workshops. I saved all year for this and while worth it the conference is not cheap. The conference is $1100 to attend and does not include lodging. It includes food that is brought in by a local chef, but the portions were very small and all lunches were vegan. I attended with a friend who was vegan who reported to be very hungry after most meals. I had one or two meals there and felt the same. Being a foodie chose to eat out, and have the authentic Napa experience, which was probably an additional $600. I also bought about $300 worth of books, because I use them for work and honestly I cannot resist. I spilt a room with a good friend who was also attending Hawthorn Suites by Wyndham Napa Valley. The hotel was quoted at $900 for 5 nights but was discounted to $790. The hotel was okay, within walking distance to the conference, though it is not a very walkable area. Probably 2 or 3 stars and had a questionable hot tub.
Also not in my estimate is a car rental, you can hitch rides, but it is easiest to have a car if you want to go back and forth from campus.
My expense breakdown:
$1100 registration
$25 application fee
$395 lodging
$600 food
$300 books
______________________
$2420 Total
Obviously this price differs depending on who you are and what you like. They also have scholarships to apply for.
Accessibility. Those who do not attend the conference can buy individual tickets to reading and craft talks ranging from a single reading for $25 and a week pass of $225. I love that they open this up because while there other poets in the area drove in to meet me and some friends for the reading.
Vibe. Overall because of the setting, faculty and daily structure this was in my top 3 conferences I have ever attended. The organizers are friendly and helpful and the balance of generative to critique is extremely helpful. This was one of the most magical conferences I have ever been to, but I had to save for a long time to get there. Overall, if you can work with a faculty that you really admire, who keeps an eye on the clock, it is worth it and more.
Overall, it was a magical conference that fed my writer, editor and foodie self. I would highly recommend it to anyone.