2023 Institute

As long as it is safe to gather, we’ll be back in person June 11-17, 2023!

In the event of program cancellation, any payments made (deposit, tuition, housing, mss consult) will be refunded in full.

Our program schedule is now live!

For information regarding COVID-19 safety at UMass Amherst, please visit https://www.umass.edu/coronavirus/

For information regarding our COVID-19 safety guidelines, please visit our Community Page.

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Every summer, the Juniper Institute gathers a community of writers to explore the creative process and develop new approaches to the craft of writing.

In association with the MFA Program for Poets & Writers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Juniper is a weeklong immersion in the writer’s life. It is time out for you and your writing, time for wild invention, and to become part of a community of acclaimed and emerging writers from all walks of life.

  • Workshops are the heart of the Juniper Institute. Here writers generate new work and present that work, or other work-in-progress, to their faculty workshop leaders and peers.
  • Craft sessions offer writers a chance to talk with faculty and visiting poets and writers about varied topics, writers’ lives, books, and matters of craft including techniques, themes, and forms.
  • The Juniper Institute reading series bring faculty and guest poets & writers together to read from their new and selected work. Readings are free and open to the public.
  • Guest Writers provide the foundation for community-building and engaging in conversation around contemporary issues facing poets and writers today.
  • Writing-focused social time includes writing breakfasts and cocktail-hour open mics, which provide low-key opportunities for participants to mingle and meet new writer friends.
  • You and your peers are what make Juniper great! Get your application ready for the June 2023 session!