All about our TWH Maine “Mini MFA” Program, from start to finish.

PRE-CONFERENCE TEAM READING.

Our pre-reading component begins immediately upon acceptance. Each writer receives two sets of comments in a single Word document. TWH Directors and Editors Shanna McNair and Scott Wolven read each manuscript—our TWH “Team Reading”. We generate hundreds of comments, from line edits to developmental edits, and follow up with a conference call to discuss the comments. Working with writers virtually pre-conference helps bring manuscripts into focus before the conference in June. And writers attend the conference feeling an artistic momentum, since they've been working hard on their manuscripts before they even begin the in-person conference program.

We use Word editing features and comment fields. Prose writers receive feedback about such items as plot, character development, dialogue, sentence structure, tone, voice, dialogue, craft, narrative arc and more. For poets, TWH hones in on line breaks, line edits, stanza work, enjambment, form, etc. The target manuscript can be a full-length manuscript, or it can be a shorter manuscript, of 30-50 pages. Works-in-progress are perfectly acceptable for our program. We do not accept works of prose over 100K words, unless we make an exception. Poets should send in manuscripts of 70 pages or less.

TWH MAINE ALL-GENRE “MINI MFA” CONFERENCE PROGRAMMING, JUNE 4-10, 2025.

MAJOR WORKSHOPS. Writers attend a total of four Major Workshops, and each lasts three hours. Major Workshops are intimate and craft-centered. They’re capped at 14 people. 

Before the conference begins, all prose writers submit 5000 words of prose; poets submit 15 pages of poetry for their Major Workshop. TWH Editors collate packets for each Major Workshop. The packets are emailed to attendees a month before the conference begins. All attending writers are expected to read their workshop packets and make constructive comments for their workshop peers. Major Workshop instructors also read the packets, and a robust conversation about each writer’s original work happens on-site. Workshop packets are emailed to each participant in May. The packets must be printed out and comment documents should be collated by each writer for their Major Workshop.

CRAFT LABS. are genre-specific and generative. There are three offerings for attendees to choose from during each Craft Lab slot.

FACULTY READING SERIES. Faculty Readings take place twice during the conference and are open to the public.

TWH OPEN MIC SESSIONS. All attending writers have the opportunity to read their own original work at the on-site Open Mic sessions. This event fosters TWH community and is only for attending writers.

SARA PATTON STIPENDS.

Our Sara Patton Stipends are awarded on the last day of the conference, in-person. Three writers (a poet, fiction writer and nonfiction writer) will be awarded a Stipend in 2024. This feature is special to our TWH “MINI MFA” conferences. We are pleased to be able to support writers with this extra distinction and a $500 stipend. Faculty familiar with manuscripts nominate writers, and final choices are made in a closed committee process. Teaching Assistants and writers who have worked with us in Private Study or Workroom are not eligible, and recipients cannot win more than once. All other writers attending our TWH “Mini MFA” are automatically entered in the running. There is no application process. We award the stipends during the conference. The stipends' namesake, the late great Sara Patton, was a TWH attendee in our first year and a wonderful writer. May our stipends honor her brave work as a writer, and her love of writers and writing. We were also inspired by the Association of Writers & Writing Programs (AWP) Kurt Brown Prizes, which are given in the same amount to writers in the same genres via AWP Writers Conferences & Centers (WC&C). TWH “MINI MFA” writers are eligible as we maintain a WC&C membership.

TWH MAINE ALL-GENRE “MINI MFA” 2025 PROGRAM COST.

TWH is keeping the same cost structure as the last three years; the cost will not be raised. Our programming fee includes the pre-conference TWH Team Reading, performed by two TWH editors, and all on-site events June 4-10, 2025, including Major Workshops, Lectures, Attendee and Faculty Readings, Craft Labs and Open Mic Night. Also included is our virtual Agent Pitch Sessions event Each TWH Team Reading includes hundreds of comments, from line edits to developmental edits, and a follow-up phone call to address any questions a writer has about the generated comments. TWH is a unique and comprehensive writing program. The fee for our 2024 TWH program is $3,500. Our prices are extremely competitive; we feel that the pre-conference reading value alone may well be worth the price of admission. We are also extremely selective, because of the time we spend with each author's work and because of the small size of each Major Workshop.

Many of our attendees who work in academia in the states and abroad have received funding grants via their colleges or universities, as TWH is generally considered a career enrichment program. We are more than happy to supply the appropriate paperwork if this is an option for an accepted writer.

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ONE ADDITIONAL HYBRID EVENT TAKES PLACE AFTER THE IN-PERSON CONFERENCE: AGENT PITCHING SESSIONS.

Writers have the opportunity to pitch to agents one-on-one during via Zoom. Virtual pitching sessions work best for writers, as writers can meet one-on-one with agents in their own space. We have found that the focus between the agent and the writer is much more keen via Zoom. This component takes place following the in-person conference on Saturday, June 27, 2025 from 11:00 AM-5:00 PM Eastern Time.

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