8th Annual Catamaran Writing Conference

July 25-29, 2021

Pacific Collegiate School, in Santa Cruz

Registration is now closed
For participants: Check-in is from 1:00 - 4:30pm on Sunday 7/25 at Fairfield Inn Conference room for all attendees
The participant orientation is at 4:30 on Sunday 7/25 at the Pacific Collegiate School Amphitheater

At Catamaran Literary Reader, our artistic themes tap into the rich literary history and beauty of California’s Central Coast. We invite you to transform your own creative work in the haven of scenic and historic Santa Cruz—the Paris of the Central Coast—where writers ranging from poets Adrienne Rich and Robert Bly, to novelists James Houston and Alan Cheuse have found inspiration and refuge from the pressures of modern life. The elegant classrooms and outdoor amphitheaters of the Pacific Collegiate School, located at 3004 Mission Street in Santa Cruz, will serve as the backdrop for this unique creative experience, featuring workshops, lectures, and presentations. Registration includes four nights lodging at the Fairfield Inn and Suites on the city’s vibrant Mission Street adjacent to the campus, 12 daily meals (specially catered for our conference with vegetarian options for all meals), and four days of literary workshops in small groups of up to twelve participants. Also available: optional daily literary themed excursions, daily craft talks, nightly faculty and special guest readings, and student readings.

Cancellations must be made by June 25th for a full refund. Cancellations received after June 25th will receive a credit to attend next year in July 2022

Amenities:

• Outdoor Pool, Whirlpool Spa, and Fitness Center (available by sign up in accordance with COVID-19 safety protocols)

• Scenic West Cliff Drive Coastal Walk and Cowell Beach

• Natural Bridges State Park and Butterfly Sanctuary

• Author Signings and Book Fair

• Complimentary All-Day Coffee

• Wilder Ranch State Park

• UCSC Arboretum and Botanical Garden

To get a taste of the Catamaran Writing Conference experience and for a list of past faculty, guest lecturers, and keynote speakers, visit our History page.

Special Guest Speaker
Sunday, 7:30

Dorianne Laux

Dorianne Laux’s sixth collection, Only As the Day is Long: New and Selected Poems was named a finalist for the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. Her fifth collection,The Book of Men, was awarded The Paterson Prize. Her fourth book of poems, Facts About the Moon, won The Oregon Book Award and was short-listed for the Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize. Laux is also the author of Awake; What We Carry, a finalist for the National Book Critic’s Circle Award; Smoke; as well as a fine small press edition, The Book of Women. She is the co-author of the celebrated text The Poet's Companion: A Guide to the Pleasures of Writing Poetry.

Faculty

Fiction

Josip Novakovich emigrated from Croatia to the United States at the age of 20. He has published a dozen books, including a novel, April Fool's Day (in ten languages), five story collections (Infidelities, Yolk, Salvation and Other Disasters, Heritage of Smoke, and Tumbleweed) and three collections of narrative essays as well as two books of practical criticism. His novel, Rubble of Rubles, is scheduled for publication in 2021. His work was anthologized in Best American Poetry, the Pushcart Prize and O. Henry Prize Stories. He has received the Whiting Writer's Award, a Guggenheim fellowship, the Ingram Merrill Award and an American Book Award, and in 2013 he was a Man Booker International Award finalist.

Lisa Fugard is the author of Skinner’s Drift, a New York Times Notable Book and a runner up for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize. Her novel was also a finalist for the LA Times First Fiction Award. Her short stories have been published in numerous literary journals, Outside, the British Council’s NW 15: The Anthology of New Writing, featured on Selected Shorts and anthologized in a Houghton Mifflin Harcourt text book of world literature for high school students. She has also had numerous travel articles in the New York Times.

Poetry

Joseph Millar’s first collection, Overtime, was a finalist for the 2001 Oregon Book Award. His second collection, Fortune, appeared in 2007, followed by a third, Blue Rust, in 2012. His latest collection Kingdom was released in February of 2017. He has won fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as a Pushcart Prize and has appeared in such magazines as DoubleTake, TriQuarterly, The Southern Review, APR, and Ploughshares. Millar teaches in Pacific University's low-residency MFA Program and in North Carolina State's MFA Program in Creative Writing.

Susan Browne’s poetry has appeared in Ploughshares, The Sun, Subtropics, The Southern Review, Superstition Review, Rattle, SWWIM, New Ohio Review, B O D Y, American Life in Poetry, Love’s Executive Order, and 180 More, Extraordinary Poems for Every Day. Her first book of poetry, Buddha’s Dogs (Four Way Books), was awarded the Intro Prize. Her second book of poetry, Zephyr (Steel Toe Books), won the Editor’s Prize. Her third collection, Just Living, won Catamaran’s 2019 Poetry Prize. Other awards include prizes from the Chester H. Jones Foundation, the National Writer’s Union, the Los Angeles Poetry Festival, and the River Styx International Poetry Contest. She received a fellowship from the Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center, and her work has been nominated for three Pushcart Awards. She also has a word/music CD: Swearing, Smoking, Drinking,& Kissing (with Kim Addonizio).

Memoir

Dan White is the author of The Cactus Eaters: How I Lost My Mind and Almost Found Myself on the Pacific Crest Trail (Harper Collins), an NCIBA bestseller and Los Angeles Times “Discovery” selection, and Under The Stars: How America Fell In Love With Camping (Henry Holt & Co.), which Cheryl Strayed described as “the definitive book on camping in America.” His writing has been published in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, Outside, Poets & Writers, Catamaran literary magazine and the Washington Post. He has an MFA in nonfiction from Columbia University, where he was a Dean’s Fellow and taught in the Undergraduate Writing Program. Dan was a Steinbeck Fellow at the Martha Heasley Cox Center for Steinbeck Studies at San Jose State University. He has taught writing at Columbia University and San Jose State. Before pursuing his MFA, he worked as the city reporter for the Santa Cruz Sentinel.

Daily Craft Talks

Enjoy optional daily guest lectures open to all registered participants and Day Pass holders. Topics are related to the craft of creative writing, giving attendees a chance to experience craft topics outside the focus of their small group writing workshops. Craft talks are one hour each, with a a portion of the hour devoted to discussing questions raised by participants. The craft talks will be presented by professional authors, poets, editors, and agents all working in literary field.  

Evening Guest Lectures and Readings

Each evening join us for readings from our conference faculty at 7:30 pm followed by a Q&A from the audience. Book signings will follow the reading at 8:30pm. A reception will begin the festivities at 7:00pm