Tag: writing workshop

Highland Summer Conference Registration Open

Registration for the 2025 Highland Summer Conference, featuring guest instructor Robert Gipe, is now open! Robert Gipe is the author of Trampoline, Weedeater, and Pop, three visual novels with unforgettable characters, heartbreak and humor, and featuring his own distinctive artistic style.

To register, go here or use this easy QR code:

Accessible QR code for users with low vision, courtesy of NaviLens

Current rates are $250 general, $200 seniors, and $200 for students (who are not registered to take the workshop as a class for credit hours). This cost includes tuition, the option of sleeping onsite at Selu Conservancy in the Retreat Center dormitories, and several meals.

Students wishing to take the workshop for three credit hours need to register for English 490 or English 590 instead. Yes, you can take the class as an undergraduate or graduate student!

Photograph of Robert Gipe, a man with beard, glasses, and tousled hair, in front of tomato plants
Author and artist Robert Gipe, photo by Amelia Kirby

How to Register

1) If you are taking this conference as a course for three credit hours, you do not need to pay additional fees. Register for the class (English 490 or English 590, Summer II Session) with Radford University, pay the tuition, and we take care of everything else. 

2) If you are taking the conference only, go to the conference store instead.

3) Where it says “$0.00,” click “Add to cart”

4) Now you’ll get a menu to select the type of conference fee you’re paying for: $250 for general, $200 for students who are NOT taking it for credit, or $200 for seniors. 

5) You also have an option to enter dietary issues (such as no nuts, no dairy, vegetarian, etc.) and choose whether to stay at Selu or not.

6) Once you’ve filled this out, you will have the option to pay by card. When you do that, make sure you submit everything and get a confirmation.

Bend of Little River
Bend of Little River at Selu Conservancy

Housing FAQ

Q: What if I need housing? You can stay at Selu Conservancy in the Retreat Center dormitories at no cost. There are multiple bunk beds in two separate dorms with full showers and a shared kitchen available. Bring your own towels, linens, and favorite pillow.

Q: What if I want to bond with the great outdoors? You can camp outside the center if you bring your own equipment, then use the showers/bathrooms at the retreat center as needed. 

Q: And if I’d rather stay in the lap of luxury? You can reserve a discounted room in our block at the Highlander Hotel in downtown Radford, or you can make your own arrangements at the nearby Comfort Inn, Tru, La Quinta, or more. Look for hotels near Exit 109 for the shortest drive to Selu Conservancy.

The Highland Summer Conference is Back!

COVID interrupted all our lives, and we still live with its consequences. The Highland Summer Conference is one of many longstanding traditions that 2020 interrupted. This July, however, the annual workshop and class marks its 43rd event. Rejoice, writers and readers–the Highland Summer Conference is back!

Banner for the 2021 Highland Summer Conference, July 19-23 2021. Photo of Diane Gilliam, guest writer.
From the 2021 Highland Summer Conference flyer

The Highland Summer Conference evolved from a residency program at Radford University, Virginia, in 1978. This creative workshop, hosted in the Blue Ridge mountains, features Appalachian themes and Appalachian writers. This year, the workshop welcomes two favorite guests: Diane Gilliam and Leatha Kendrick.

Photo of guest author Leatha Kendrick. Public readings in McConnell Library, July 20 and 22, at 7 PM.

Students can take the workshop for course credit, as both undergraduates and graduates. If you don’t need the credit, you can still take the event as a conference (with a special rate for seniors, too).

If COVID has been hard on your finances, you can still attend free readings on Tuesday and Thursday from the guest authors. And, if you can’t be here in person, this year also offers virtual participation.

I’ve participated in the Highland Summer Conference as a student and a guest author. The experience remains a special one.

One of my favorite comments about the HSC experience is from Bonnie Erickson, a frequent participant, quoted in the 1997 volume of ALCAlines: “In this class you write about life–your life. . . . Some write about happiness, but just as many write about pain. Many write of success and some write of failure. Many come in wounded. Hundreds leave healed. I was among the latter.”

What a testament to the power of a writing community. With the return of the HSC, particularly with guests such as Diane and Leatha, attendees can refresh the creative spirit, produce new work, listen to a pair of fine writers, and maybe even find a little healing themselves.