The Colrain Classic Poetry Conference
MAY 16—19, 2025
colrainpoetry.com

A select group of poets will bring their completed or in-progress manuscripts to the The Arlington Inn in Arlington, Vermont, a village estate built in 1847 that was later turned into a summer hotel. In this beautiful setting, poets will work closely with conference faculty.

Faculty: Joan Houlihan, Jeff Shotts
Genres Offered: Poetry
Contact: Joan Houlihan conferences@colrainpoetry.org

Despite all the MFA programs, writing conferences, workshops, and retreats in existence, there is no other program or conference dedicated exclusively to delivering knowledge on the poetry manuscript editorial process.

The Colrain Conference sets poets with a manuscript-in-progress on a path toward publication with three days of expert analysis, feedback, and a live cold read of the manuscript. Poets also get a look into the publication world and make important contacts with leading editors, teachers, and publishers.

The Colrain Cold Read, included in the conference or taken alone as a one-day intensive, delivers a live, acquisitions style session with a press editor or publisher.

The Colrain Crucible, included in the conference or taken alone as a one-day intensive, delivers a manuscript-shaping session focused on selection, sequencing, and structural clarity.

Awards

So far, Colrain manuscripts have won these awards:

Akron Poetry Prize from University of Akron Press
Beatrice Hawley Prize from Alice James Books
Brittingham Prize
Crab Orchard Open Competition
Emily Dickinson Prize from the Poetry Foundation
Four Way Book Intro Prize
Levis Prize from Four Way Books
Lexi Rudnitsky Poetry Prize from Persea Books
Marsh Hawk Press Prize
May Swenson Poetry Award
Nightboat Books Poetry Prize
T. S. Eliot Poetry Prize from Truman State University
The Bakeless Prize
The New Issues Green Rose Prize
The New Issues Poetry Prize
The Perugia Press Prize
The Vassar Miller Poetry Prize
White Pine Press Poetry Prize

C. C. New York, N.Y.says: “I’m glad I attended the manuscript conference. Wonderful to get Ellen’s and other’s talented and supportive perspectives. I specifically liked the way Jeff [Shotts] shared his feeling experience of the manuscript, is it a book? down to the intricate quirky details. It was magnificent and moving—the way he sustained this way of talking about each poet’s manuscript.”

Good luck!

Come check out these great indie publishers:

POST HILL Press     Skyhorse Publishing    Two Dollar Radio

Think maybe you’ve got the writing bug, too? REAL WRITER’S MARKET. Submissions now open. Check it out…

Thank you and Happy Publishing….

#ColrainClassicPoetryConference