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The Nebraska Summer Writers' Conference

About Us

Timothy Schaffert, Director
Emily Danforth, Assistant Director
Cody Lumpkin, Conference Associate

The Nebraska Summer Writers' Conference is in its sixth year of bringing award-winning, widely reviewed writers of fiction, poetry, and nonfiction, as well as influential publishing professionals, to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to conduct weekend and week-long workshops. The workshops are attended by people from all across the country-writers either just beginning to find their voices, or in the process of polishing their work—many of whom return year after year for the conference's invigoratingly creative environment.

What's NEW for the Nebraska Summer Writers' Conference?

The Prairie Schooner Workshops. The Conference has always had a close association with the internationally renowned literary journal Prairie Schooner—both the Conference and the journal are products of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Creative Writing Department and, over the years, the Conference faculty has included the people behind the journal—its editor, its readers, and its authors. So, we've simply named our poetry, fiction, and nonfiction courses after the acclaimed journal—now all our conference attendees can list Prairie Schooner Workshops on their resumes and cover letters, and can be certain that the quality of the courses is conveyed to the editors and agents to whom they show their work-Prairie Schooner is one of our nation’s most revered journals, and one of its oldest. The journal has a rich history too extensive to list here (its contributors have included Truman Capote, Rita Dove, Tennessee Williams, Alice Hoffman, Eudora Welty, Joyce Carol Oates, Charles Bukowski, Gregory Maguire, Chris Ware), and its influence in the world of publishing has never been stronger. Winners of the Prairie Schooner Book Prize have seen great success… just check out the enthusiasm for Brock Clarke's new novel, his first after his Prairie Schooner Book Prize-winning collection Carrying the Torch. And we're proud to again offer a master class with Hilda Raz, the editor of Prairie Schooner.

The Website. The changes to our website are more than cosmetic. We’re in the process of developing a conference that can serve its participants year-round, with access to special online content, wikis, extensive writer resources, and virtual workshops. Though this is all currently under construction, we have already expanded our faculty pages to better assist you in making a decision about which writer you’d like to work with—each page includes a bibliography of the writer’s work, review blurbs, links to excerpts and author web pages, and an exclusive five-question interview in which the authors talk about their writing processes and inspirations. If you haven’t yet, you should sign up for our email newsletter. Just drop a note to nswc@unl.edu, with your contact info, and we’ll keep you updated.

The Director. Still can't decide which workshop to sign up for? Email me, Timothy Schaffert (tschaffert2@unl.edu), or give me a call (402.472.0908), and I'll be happy to help you. Just a bit about me: I'm the author of three novels (The Phantom Limbs of the Rollow Sisters; The Singing and Dancing Daughters of God, a Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers pick; and Devils in the Sugar Shop, a Book Sense pick and a New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice), and I'm a former student of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's creative writing program.

In addition to all of the above, the Conference continues to offer panel discussions, readings, and opportunities to socialize with our faculty. You'll also develop lifelong friendships, writing partners, and professional connections among the other students.

See you soon,
Timothy Schaffert
Director, Nebraska Summer Writers' Conference
202 Andrews Hall
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Lincoln, NE 68588
402.472.0908

A note about the painting on our website: Edward Hopper's iconographic portrait of a New York scene, "Room in New York," is owned by the Sheldon Art Gallery of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and has recently been part of a traveling retrospective of Hopper’s work, the first comprehensive Hopper exhibit outside of New York in 25 years. The painting has also inspired the opera Later the Same Evening, which had its premiere at the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC last summer. Hopper's work has historically provoked the imaginations of artists, particularly writers and filmmakers, with its narrative qualities. Hopper imagined the works as collaborations with his wife, who posed for his work. Together, they developed characters, coming up with names and biographies for the people in his paintings. With that in mind, we asked some of the writers on our faculty to consider what's going on in "Room in New York"; you can read their answers in the Q&A section of their pages on this website.

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Edward Hopper, "Room in New York," 1932, Oil on canvas, 29 9/32 x 36 5/8 x 1 1/4, Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery and Sculpture Garden, UNL-F.M. Hall Collection

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