Milford Writer's Workshop
| Milford Writer's Workshop (or more properly Milford Writers' Conference) |
|
|---|---|
| Status | Active |
| Genre | Conference |
| Frequency | Annually |
| Venue | Various |
| Location(s) | • Milford, Pennsylvania, United States (before 1972) • Various locations, United Kingdom (since 1972) |
| Inaugurated | 1950s |
| Founder | Damon Knight, among others |
| Participants | Science fiction writers |
| Activity | Writers' workshop |
| Website | |
| milfordsf |
|
The Milford Writer's Workshop, or more properly Milford Writers' Conference, is an annual science fiction writer's event founded by Damon Knight, among others, in the mid-1950s, in Milford, Pennsylvania. It was so named because Knight, Judith Merril, and James Blish lived in Milford, Pennsylvania when it was founded. It moved to the United Kingdom in 1972 and has run successfully ever since on an annual basis.
It is both a residential workshop and a writers' conference in which published science fiction writers convene over the course of a week to intensively critique stories and samples from novels (usually works in progress) and to workshop ideas on all aspects of SF writing. It is a peer-to-peer conference with no teachers or students.
In 1972, Blish set up the United Kingdom Milford SF Writers' Conference, which initially met in Milford on Sea, Hampshire. Since then it has been held in various locations, latterly Devon until 2001, York in 2002 and 2003, and (since 2004) at Trigonos Conference Centre in North Wales, usually in mid September.
An honorary committee is elected annually at the AGM held during the Milford week. The 2015 committee (elected 2014) comprised: Sue Thomason (Chair), Liz Williams (Secretary), Tina Anghelatos (Treasurer), Jacey Bedford (Vice-Chair, Website and Mailing Lists), Kari Sperring, and Karen Williams. Committee members are listed on the workshop's official web site.
Participants must have sold at least one science fiction story to qualify for attendance, and relative newcomers to publication are welcomed, though participants often have multiple novel and/or short story sales to their credit. Qualification details are quoted on the workshop's official website.
Workshop participants in the United States (pre-1972) included:
Milford is the model for other peer-to-peer science fiction writer workshops, including the Turkey City Writer's Workshop.
Participants in the UK (in 1972 and afterward) have included:
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