The Cambridge Writers’ Workshop Budapest and Prague Writing Retreat will be held from July 19 to July 27, 2024 in the historic city center of Budapest, Hungary and Prague, Czech Republic. Come explore the rich Danube River culture in Eastern Europe, as we enjoy learning about the stories and lore, poetry, unique music, local food specialties and historic sites of the beautiful jewel box cities of Budapest and Prague.
The retreat features writing and publishing workshops, craft seminars, and generative writing sessions for poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers. The faculty includes poets and prose writers Rita Banerjee and Diana Norma Szokolyai. The cost of the retreat is $4,800, which includes tuition, lodging, daily breakfast, and special meals. Transportation is not included.
Using only the online application system, submit 5 to 10 pages of poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, or hybrid work, and a brief cover letter (including a bio and contact information for two references) with a $10 application fee by June 1. Early applications strongly encouraged as seats are limited on the retreat. Multilingual poetry and prose submissions, including self-translations, are welcome. Partial scholarships for BIPOC writers, LGBTQ+ writers, writers who are students, and writers who are parents are available. To apply for a scholarship, submit a general retreat application, as well as a cover letter, including a statement on how the scholarship will assist you in meeting your writing goals, by May 15. There is no application fee for scholarships. Registration is first come, first served; space is limited. Visit the website for an application form and more information.
Faculty:
Diana Norma Szokolyai is a writer, teacher, and co-founder/Executive Artistic Director of Cambridge Writers’ Workshop. She is co-editor of CREDO: An Anthology of Manifestos & Sourcebook for Creative Writing and author of the poetry chapbooks Parallel Sparrows, and Roses in the Snow. Her writing is published in Critical Romani Studies, The Poetry Miscellany, The Boston Globe, Up the Staircase Quarterly, and MER VOX Quarterly. Her poetry has been anthologized in Other Countries: Contemporary Poets Rewiring History and Teachers as Writers, as well as translated into German for the anthology of Romani poets from around the world Die Morgendämmerung der Worte, Moderner Poesie–Atlas der Roma und Sinti. She was awarded a 2021 Center for Arts and Social Justice Fellowship at Vermont College of Fine Arts for her work translating Romani poets into English. Other honors include honorable mention for Best Poetry Book in the 2014 Paris Book Festival and finalist for Hunger Mountain’s 2020 May Day Mountain Chapbook series. Together with Dennis Shafer, she founded ChagallPAC, an interdisciplinary arts organization that hosts performances, readings, and workshops, with a gallery space on Artists’ Row in Salem, MA. A first generation American of Hungarian Romani heritage, she holds an M.A. in French Literature & Cultural Studies from UConn, an Ed.M. in Arts in Education from Harvard, and an M.F.A. in Writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts.
Rita Banerjee is an Assistant Professor of Creative Writing and Director of the MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College. She is editor of CREDO: An Anthology of Manifestos and Sourcebook for Creative Writing (C&R Press) and the author of the poetry collection Echo in Four Beats (Finishing Line Press), which was nominated for the 2019 Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize at the Academy of American Poets, named one of Book Riot’s “Must-Read Poetic Voices of Split This Rock 2018”, and was selected by Finishing Line Press as their 2018 nominee for the National Book Award in Poetry. Banerjee is also the author of the novella “A Night with Kali” in Approaching Footsteps (Spider Road Press), and the poetry chapbook Cracklers at Night (Finishing Line Press). Her work has appeared on-air on Vermont Public Radio, Goddard College Community Radio’sBon Mot, the Ruth Stone Foundation Podcast, and KBOO Radio’s APA Compass, and in print in the Academy of American Poets, Poets & Writers, Hunger Mountain, PANK, Nat. Brut., Isele Magazine, South Asian Avant-Garde, Los Angeles Review of Books, Electric Literature, VIDA: Women in Literary Arts, Objet d’Art, and elsewhere. She is the co-writer and co-director ofBurning Down the Louvre (2024), a documentary film about race, intimacy, and tribalism in the United States and in France. She received a 2021-2022 Creation Grant from the Vermont Arts Council for her new memoir and manifesto on female cool, and one of the opening chapters of this new memoir, “Birth of Cool” was a Notable Essay in the 2020 Best American Essays, and another chapter from her new memoir, “The Female Gaze,” was a Notable Essay in the 2023 Best American Essays.
In Budapest, we will stay at:
Hotel Oktogon
Andrássy út 52
H-1062 Budapest, Hungary
Phone: +36 1 884 8750
In Prague, we will stay at:
Falkensteiner Hotel Prague
Opletalova 21
11000 Prague, Czech Republic
Phone: +420 222 211 229
Accessibility accommodations include public transportation near the venues and elevator access. If you have accommodation requests, please contact Cambridge Writers’ Workshop manager Corrine Previte at info@cambridgewritersworkshop.org for additional accessibility details.
Contact Info:
Cambridge Writers’ Workshop, Inc.
Artist’s Row, 24 New Derby Street, Salem, MA 01970
Office Phone: (617) 401-8950
Diana Norma Szokolyai, Executive Artistic Director
info@cambridgewritersworkshop.org
directors@cambridgewritersworkshop.org
Visit cambridgewritersworkshop.org for further information. All genres welcome. Please email info@cambridgewritersworkshop.org or call 617-401-8950 for more information.
If you’d like to join us in Paris, please apply online by June 1, 2024, and include a $10 application screening fee and a 5-10 page writing sample of poetry, prose, drama, illustrated, or hybrid work. Please also include the following in your cover letter:
1. Full Legal Name
2. Contact Info (Telephone & Address)
3. Age & Nationality (Participants should be 18+)
4. Prior creative writing experience and/ publications (not necessary)
5. Creative writing goals for the retreat
6. Short one paragraph biography
7. Contact of Two Personal References (Name, Email, Address, Phone, Relationship to Applicant)
8. What would you bring to a writing workshop community? (communication skills, patience, listening skills, etc.)
Due to limited seats, early applications are encouraged!
Deadline: June 1, 2024
The Cambridge Writers’ Workshop is delighted to announce that partial scholarships based on need and merit for the CWW Writing Retreat in Budapest and Prague (July 19, 2024 - July 27, 2024) are now available. Students can apply for scholarships of $250-$500, and further financial assistance may be available for students in need. Scholarships for BIPOC, LGBTQ+, writers who are students, writers who are parents, and writers who are educators are available.
To apply for a scholarship, please complete this two-step process:
- Submit an application to the CWW Writing Retreat in Budapest and Prague (July 19, 2024 - July 27, 2024)
- While there is no application fee, all scholarship applications are due by May 15, 2024. And early scholarship applications are encouraged.applying, and how this scholarship will help you with your writing goals.
While there is no application fee, all scholarship applications are due by June 10, 2023. And early scholarship applications are encouraged.
Scholarship Categories
If you identify with one of the following identities and have a financial need, we offer partial scholarships. When you apply, please state which scholarship category you are applying to from the list below:
- BIPOC
- LGBTQ+
- Student
- Parent (of a child 0-22)
- Educator
If you have any questions, please email info@cambridgewritersworkshop.org.
The Cambridge Writers' Workshop is delighted to announce that we will be offering Writing Coaching and Editorial Services for our writing students starting! Authors who are in the development stage of their manuscript drafting or have a book manuscript ready and are looking for advice regarding book proposals, manuscript submissions, and seeking out literary agents are welcome to apply. Writers who are working in all genres including poetry, fiction, nonfiction, play or screenwriting, hybrid, and illustrated work are welcome to apply.
Here are the types of services offered by our faculty.
- Writing Coaching
- Manuscript Review
- Publishing and Submission Advice
- Developing Query Letters for Literary Agents
- Developing Book Proposals
- Line Editing of Manuscripts
- One-on-One Consultations
- Small-Group Writing Workshops
- Manuscript Development Advice
- One-on-one Craft Advice
In applying for the writing coaching services, be sure to note what kinds of services you are interested in, the scope of your project. To apply for Writing Coaching and Editorial Services, please complete the following steps:
- Submit an application via cww.submittable.com
- Include a writing sample of 5-10 pages of prose, poetry, or hybrid work with your application
- In the cover letter, please note:
- which faculty you would prefer to work with (please select from our Faculty List below)
- a brief on-paragraph synopsis of your project and the scope of your project
- please note any genres that you are working in or developing further
- what kind of editorial services you are seeking and
- a brief one-paragraph biography of yourself as a writer and creator
4 . With your application, please include two professional references (with phone, email address, and mailing address included). If possible, please include two contact references who can speak to your experience as a writer.
Our Faculty Include:
Rita Banerjee is the Executive Creative Director of the Cambridge Writers’ Workshop and editor of CREDO: An Anthology of Manifestos and Sourcebook for Creative Writing. She is the author of the poetry collection Echo in Four Beats , which was named one of Book Riot’s“Must-Read Poetic Voices of Split This Rock 2018”, the novella “A Night with Kali” in Approaching Footsteps, and the poetry chapbook Cracklers at Night. She is the co-writer and co-director of Burning Down the Louvre (2023), a documentary film about race, intimacy, and tribalism in the United States and in France. She received her doctorate in Comparative Literature from Harvard and her MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Washington, and she is a recipient of a Vermont Studio Center Artist’s Grant, the Tom and Laurel Nebel Fellowship, and South Asia Initiative and Tata Grants among other awards. Her writing appears in the Academy of American Poets, Poets & Writers,PANK, Tupelo Quarterly, Nat. Brut., Vermont Public Radio, Hunger Mountain, Kweli Journal, The Scofield, The Rumpus, Painted Bride Quarterly, Mass Poetry, Hyphen Magazine, Los Angeles Review of Books, Electric Literature, VIDA: Women in Literary Arts, Queen Mob’s Tea House, Objet d’Art, and elsewhere. She is currently working on a novel, a book on South Asian literary modernisms, and a memoir and manifesto on female cool. Her writing is represented by agent Jamie Chambliss of Folio Literary Management.
Franky Frances Cannon is a writer, editor, educator, and artist. She recently served as the Managing Director of the Sundog Poetry Center in Vermont. She has taught at the Vermont College of Fine Arts, Champlain College, the Vermont Commons School, the University of Iowa, and as a visiting lecturer at Middlebury College and the University of Vermont. She has an MFA in creative writing from Iowa and a BA in poetry and printmaking from the University of Vermont. Her published books include: Walter Benjamin: Reimagined, MIT Press, The Highs and Lows of Shapeshift Ma and Big-Little Frank, Gold Wake Press, Tropicalia, Vagabond Press, Predator/Play, Ethel Press, Uranian Fruit, Honeybee Press, Sagittaria, Bottlecap Press, and Image Burn, a self-published art book. She has worked for The Iowa Review, McSweeney’s Quarterly, The Believer, and The Lucky Peach. Her writing has been published in The New York Times,Poetry Northwest, The Iowa Review, The Green Mountain Review, Vice, Lithub, The Moscow Times, The Examined Life Journal, Gastronomica, Electric Lit, Edible magazine, Mount Island, Fourth Genre, and Vol. 1 Brooklyn.
Kristina Marie Darling is the author of thirty-nine books, which include Stylistic Innovation, Conscious Experience, and the Self in Modernist Women’s Poetry, available from Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group; Daylight Has Already Come: Selected Poems 2014 - 2020, which was published by Black Lawrence Press; Silence in Contemporary Poetry, which will be published in hardcover by Clemson University Press in the United States and Liverpool University Press in the United Kingdom; Silent Refusal: Essays on Contemporary Feminist Writing, newly available from Black Ocean; Angel of the North, which is forthcoming from Salmon Poetry; and X Marks the Dress: A Registry (co-written with Carol Guess), which was just launched by Persea Books in the United States. Penguin Random House Canada has also published a Canadian edition. An expert consultant with the U.S. Fulbright Commission, Dr. Darling’s work has also been recognized with three residencies at Yaddo, where she has held the Martha Walsh Pulver Residency for a Poet and the Howard Moss Residency in Poetry; eight residencies at the American Academy in Rome, where she has also served as an ambassador for recruitment; grants from the Elizabeth George Foundation and Harvard University’s Kittredge Fund; a Fundación Valparaíso fellowship to live and work in Spain; a Hawthornden Castle Fellowship, funded by the Heinz Foundation; an artist-in-residence position at Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris; two grants from the Whiting Foundation; a Faber Residency in the Arts, Sciences, and Humanities, which she received on two separate occasions; an artist-in-residence position with the Andorran Ministry of Culture; an artist-in-residence position at the Florence School of Fine Arts; an appointment at Scuola Internazionale de Grafica in Venice; and the Dan Liberthson Prize from the Academy of American Poets, which she received on three separate occasions; among many other awards and honors. Dr. Darling serves as Editor-in-Chief of Tupelo Press & Tupelo Quarterly and teaches at the American University of Rome. Born and raised in the American Midwest, she currently divides her time between the United States, Rome, and the Amalfi Coast.
Tim Horvath is the author of Understories (Bellevue Literary Press), which won the New Hampshire Literary Award for Outstanding Work of Fiction, and Circulation (sunnyoutside). His fiction has appeared in Conjunctions, AGNI, Harvard Review, and many other journals, and his book reviews appear in Georgia Review, The Brooklyn Rail, and American Book Review. His novel-in-progress focuses on the lives of contemporary classical composers and musicians. He has taught Creative Writing in the Granada, Spain, program for the Cambridge Writers' Workshop, and in the BFA and MFA programs at New England College, including the Institute of Art and Design.
Corrine Previte is currently working as a 4th Grade Teacher in Lynn, Massachusetts. Previously, Corrine graduated from Gordon College in 2017 with a B.S. in Elementary Education and a B.A. in English, where she took courses in creative playwriting, literary journal, British and Irish Literature. During her time at Gordon, she not only was captain of the track team but she was also the News Editor for the college’s newspaper: The Tartan and a member of the Sigma Tau Delta English Honors Society. She has recently completed her master's at Gordon where she studied to be a reading specialist and English as a Second Language Teacher. She also took courses in writing for publication, developing and advanced writers. Corrine Previte is an avid writer and has been since the age of 6. She has a love for children’s books and travel writing. Her favorite authors that inspire her include Patricia Polacco, Jane Brett and Elizabeth Gilbert. Previte has worked with Cambridge Writer’s Workshop since 2019. She has enjoyed the hands-on experience with editors and publishers. During this time, Previte’s children's book manuscript is under review.
Ian Ross Singleton is author of the novel Two Big Differences. He is the Nonfiction Editor of Asymptote and has written short stories, translations, reviews, and essays which have appeared in journals such as: Saint Ann’s Review; Cafe Review; New Madrid; Fiddleblack;The Los Angeles Review of Books; and Fiction Writers Review. He teaches Writing and Critical Inquiry at the University at Albany.
Natalya Sukhonos is bilingual in Russian and English and also speaks Spanish, French, and Portuguese. She has a PhD in Comparative Literature from Harvard University. Natalya is Assistant Professor at the College of Interdisciplinary Studies at Zayed University. Natalya's poems are published by the American Journal of Poetry; Haight Ashbury Literary Journal; Saint Ann's Review; Driftwood Press; Literary Mama; Middle Gray Magazine; Really System; Empty Sink Publishing and other journals. Her first book "Parachute" was published by Aldrich Press of Kelsay Books. "A Stranger Home" was published by Moon Pie Press in 2020. You can find out more about her work on natalyasukhonos.com.
Diana Norma Szokolyai is a writer and Executive Artistic Director of Cambridge Writers’ Workshop. Her edited volume, CREDO: An Anthology of Manifestos and Sourcebook for Creative Writing, will be released by C&R Press on March 7, 2018. She is author of the poetry collections Parallel Sparrows (honorable mention for Best Poetry Book in the 2014 Paris Book Festival) and Roses in the Snow (first runner-up Best Poetry Book at the 2009 DIY Book Festival). She also records her poetry with musicians and has collaborated with several composers including David Krebs (US), Robert Lemay (Canada), Claudio Gabriele (Italy), Peter James (UK), Jason Haye (UK), and Sebastian Wesman (Estonia). Diana Norma is a founding member of the performing arts groups Sounds in Bloom, ChagallPAC, and The Brooklyn Soundpainting Ensemble. Her poetry-music collaboration with Flux Without Pause, “Space Mothlight,” hit #16 on the Creative Commons Hot 100 list in 2015, and can be found in the curated WFMU Free Music Archive. Her work has been recently reviewed by The London Grip and published in VIDA: Reports from the Field, The Fiction Project, Quail Bell Magazine, Lyre Lyre, The Boston Globe, Dr. Hurley’s Snake Oil Cure,The Dudley Review and Up the Staircase Quarterly, The Million Line Poem, The Cambridge Community Poem, and elsewhere, as well as anthologized in Our Last Walk, The Highwaymen NYC #2, Other Countries: Contemporary Poets Rewiring History, Always Wondering, and Teachers as Writers. She is currently at work on her next book and an album of poetry & music. Diana Norma holds a M.A. in French (UCONN, La Sorbonne) and an Ed.M in Arts in Education (Harvard).
Help support the Cambridge Writers’ Workshop by becoming a member of
our NING Writers’ Network. Your membership will help support our
literary arts activities, workshops, and summer retreats. We are
grateful for any and all support from our members.
All pledged members will have full access to the Cambridge Writers’ Workshop Membership Site
and will be eligible for special offers on workshops and events.
Members will also be able to share their creative work, post literary
inquiries, network with others writers, and receive feedback on their
work on the CWW NING Writers’ Network.
Membership:
- $35 – Cambridge Writer’s Workshop Member & Ning Access