Annie, Clare, Tessa and Rufi are very excited to introduce you to writing camp.

This five-day, four-night generative retreat in gorgeous New Hampshire will offer a mix of craft lectures, writing prompts, one-on-one faculty and agent chats, business-of-writing lunch talks, and restorative writing time. Additionally, we want the good writing vibes to continue, so you’ll get three free months in the Accountability Workshop after the retreat.

There’s a certain kind of artistic magic that arises when writers join in community to think, talk, play, and cheer one another on. It’s a magic we’ve all found with each other - it has changed all our writing lives in profound ways - and now we want to spread the magic to you.

Our retreat will take place at Purity Springs Resort in Madison, New Hampshire from Thursday, November 7 through Monday, November 11th (Veteran’s Day). Applications for the 2024 retreat open August 12, 2024 and spots are limited to 30. Your registration fee includes lodging in a private room, meals, up to two one-on-one meetings with faculty, a one-on-one meeting with an agent who will read and critique your query letter and first five pages, craft talks and writing prompts, group activities, plenty of time to write, three months free membership in the Accountability Workshops, and campfires every night.

With authors Annie Hartnett, Clare Beams, Tessa Fontaine & Rufi Thorpe

Writing Time

Think of this as a turbo charge for your writing life. With built-in writing blocks each morning and flexibility in the afternoons, you choose when you write, read, take a walk in the woods or a nap in your peaceful room. We want you to focus on your own writing while you’re at writing camp. So while there will be ample opportunities to share your work, we will not be reading other people’s manuscripts ahead of time. Use your time for your own project!

Who We Are

Annie, Clare, Tessa and Rufi are The Finishers, a writing group of devoted artists who support one another with regular meetings and creative accountability. (You can read more about us here.) Collectively, we have nine books with major publishers (and another out next year), two books with small presses, an Apple TV show in the making plus some likely movies brewing in cauldrons, six children, one NEA grant, a handful of Indie Next picks, four MFAs, a PEN/Faulkner finalist, two First novel prize longlists, a New York Public Library’s Young Lions Fiction Award finalist, and four sets of nice teeth. Official bios are below. But we all love teaching and being in community with other writers and so as we dreamed up what we’d most love to do, writing camp was born.

Craft Lectures

Each day will have at least one craft lecture given by a faculty member in an area of their expertise, followed by writing prompts. Possible topics might include characterization, perspective and imagination, revision strategies, making reluctant characters come to life on the page, interiority, and more. Craft lectures will be applicable to both fiction and nonfiction writers, and the associated writing prompt will allow you to implement the craft lessons right away.

The-Business-of-Writing Talks

Though our primary focus will be on generative writing, we love sharing everything we know about the business side of writing too, which often feels unnecessarily mysterious. Let’s pull back the veil. We’ll cover topics throughout the week like agents, query letters, comp titles, publishing, creative accountability, and more. And our superpower? Bringing in the pros. Two literary agents,  Katie Grimm (Curtis Brown) and Maggie Cooper  (Aevitas) will join us to talk query letters and all things publishing. Plus! You’ll get a one-on-one meeting with one of them for feedback on your query letter and first five manuscript pages.

Community

Get to know other writers in this gorgeous setting. Though you’ll have lots of solo writing time, there will also be ample time for socializing and talking about the writing life. There will be campfires. There will be hikes. There might be dance parties. And who knows, like a good camp, there might even be friendship bracelets.

Accommodations & Meals

Each participant will have their own room in one of several buildings at Purity Springs Resort. All rooms are equipped with a queen bed, full bath, mini fridge and microwave. The resort also has complimentary Wi-Fi and cable TV. Some rooms have lake views, other mountain views, and still others, garden views. Purity Springs is nestled between New Hampshire’s White Mountains and Lakes Region, and the pristine lake is perfect for fishing, canoeing or kayaking, or keep the relaxation more chill at the indoor pool and hot tub. All meals will be provided at the resort. Most meals will be served buffet style, created by a top-notch on-site restaurant familiar with accommodating dietary restrictions

Faculty Info

  • Clare Beams’s new novel, The Garden, was published by Doubleday in April of 2024. It has been longlisted for the 2024 Joyce Carol Oates/New Literary Project Prize and featured on anticipated lists at LitHub and Bookshop.org. Her novel The Illness Lesson, published in February of 2020 by Doubleday, was a New York Times Editors’ Choice and was longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize. It was named a best book of 2020 by Esquire and Bustle and a best book of February by Time, O Magazine, and Entertainment Weekly. Her story collection, We Show What We Have Learned, was published by Lookout Books in 2016; it won the Bard Fiction Prize, was longlisted for the Story Prize, and was a Kirkus Best Debut of 2016, as well as a finalist for the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize, the New York Public Library’s Young Lions Fiction Award, and the Shirley Jackson Award. Her short fiction appears in One Story, n+1, Ecotone, Conjunctions, The Common, Kenyon Review, Hayden’s Ferry Review, Electric Literature’s Recommended Reading, and The Best American Nonrequired Reading, and has received special mention in The Pushcart Prize and twice in The Best American Short Stories. She has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, the Sewanee Writers' Conference, MacDowell, and the Sustainable Arts Foundation, and was a finalist for the 2023 Joyce Carol Oates/New Literary Project Prize. Clare lives in Pittsburgh with her husband and two daughters and currently teaches in the Randolph MFA program.

  • Rufi Thorpe received her MFA from the University of Virginia in 2009. She is the author of four novels, The Girls from Corona Del Mar, Dear Fang, With Love, and The Knockout Queen, which was a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner award. Her newest Book, Margo's Got Money Troubles, is currently in production for Apple TV. She lives in California with her husband and two sons.

  • Annie Hartnett is the author of novels RABBIT CAKE (Tin House Books, 2017) and UNLIKELY ANIMALS (Ballantine/Random House, 2022).

    Unlikely Animals was listed as one of the best books of 2022 by the Washington Post and BookRiot. It was the winner of the 2023 Julia Ward Howe prize for fiction, and was longlisted for the Joyce Carol Oates Prize. It was the April 2022 book club selection for Good Housekeeping magazine and Amerie’s Book club. It received starred reviews from Booklist and Bookpage, and was an April Indie Next pick.

    Rabbit Cake was listed as one of Kirkus Reviews' Best Books of 2017, was a finalist for the New England Book Award, an Indies Introduce and an Indie Next Pick, and was long-listed for the Center for Fiction's First Novel Prize.  It received starred reviews from Publisher's Weekly, Kirkus, and Library Journal, and was People magazine's Book of the Week. It is currently under option with Amazon Studios (more on that here!).

    Annie has been awarded fellowships and residencies from the MacDowell Colony, Sewanee Writers' Conference, and the Associates of the Boston Public Library. She holds degrees from the MFA program at the University of Alabama, Middlebury College's Bread Loaf School of English, and Hamilton College. She lives in Massachusetts with her husband, daughter, and dog.

  • Tessa Fontaine is the author of THE ELECTRIC WOMAN: A MEMOIR IN DEATH-DEFYING ACTS, a New York Times Editors' Choice; Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers pick, and best book of the year by Southern Living, Refinery29, Amazon Editors', and The New York Post.  

    THE RED GROVE, her debut novel, was named a best book by Amazon Editors’ and People Magazine, and is currently longlisted for the Center for Fiction’s First Novel Prize.

    Other writing can be found in Outside, The New York Times, Glamour, AGNI, The Believer, People, LitHub, Creative Nonfiction, and more. Raised outside San Francisco, Tessa is a former professor and has taught in jails and prisons. She co-founded and teaches the Accountability Workshops with writer and pal Annie Hartnett, and lives in Asheville, North Carolina, with her husband, daughter, goofy dog and sassy cat.

Program Cost

$3,500

Includes: All meals, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, four nights and five days of lodging in a private resort room, craft classes from four award-winning authors, business of writing classes, two one-on-one meetings, campfires, open mics, memories forever.

Does not include: Flights/travel. The closest airport is Portland, ME (1 hr 15 mins). Other airport options include Boston, MA (2 hrs 15 mins) and Manchester-Boston Regional Airport (1 hr 45 mins). Since Purity Springs Resort is beautifully rural, there is no public transportation option. We will, however, put people in touch who are interested in carpooling. 

A note regarding cost: One of our goals for the future is to establish scholarhips to help deserving writers attend writing camp. In the meantime, we encourage writers to apply for funding from elsewhere, such as travel grants through your academic institutuions, state arts councils (Massachusetts has a good one); and other artistic organizations (start with Artists Community Alliance, Poets + Writers, Writers Chronicle, The Authors Guild, Profellow.com). 

Fall Writing Camp Application

To join the fun, fill out the application below.
Then, we’ll be in touch soon with info to make payment.
xo Mwah.

FAQS

Can I share a room?
 Yes. If you want to bring your writing BFF or partner and share a room, the cost per person is $3,250. 

What genres of writing are accepted?
All genres! Our craft lectures will be geared toward fiction and nonfiction writers, but anyone may attend.

How many people attend?
30 max.

Accessibility information:
[coming soon]

Will alcohol be served?
 Each evening, we will serve complimentary wine, beer, and non-alcoholic drinks during a happy hour, with dinner, and/or at a post-dinner reception.

What’s your cancellation policy?
We have a strict cancellation policy because our vendors have no-refund policies. Refunds will not be offered unless we have another participant ready to take your place. Refunds will not be given if you must leave writing camp while it’s underway, but we will certainly make efforts to help you participate virtually if you do have to leave before the retreat has ended.

Email tgfontaine [at] gmail.com for other questions.