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Northern California Writers’ Retreat

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Please be sure you’ve visited our website and familiarized yourself with our upcoming retreat(s) before applying and writing your personal statement. To apply, please fill out the form below.

Note that we also have the Xochitl Gonzalez Scholarship available for one Diasporican fiction writer of any gender to one session of our 2026 retreats. If you’d like to apply to the Scholarship, please visit our Scholarship page.

Financial aid is available because of the great generosity of our alums. When we send out acceptance letters on December 3rd, we will give you the option to apply for financial aid.

All rooms are SINGLE rooms with bathroom ensuite. The bathroom includes a toilet, sink, and shower stall. All linens and towels are provided by the retreat center. Retreat fees are $2,897 for 4 nights and 5 days, all meals, snacks, and beverages included.

Upon acceptance, we will require a $1000 non-refundable deposit, due by January 5th, 2026. The remainder of the payment will be due by February 20th, 2026.

We can’t wait to read about you and your work!

Applications are open now until November 7th.

We will get back to you with our decision on December 3rd.

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Full Name*

First Last

Email Address*

Phone Number*

Your Pronouns*

Where are you from?*

City State

How did you learn about Northern California Writers' Retreat?*

Which retreat(s) would you like to be considered for?*

Session 1: March 18th-22nd Author-in-Residence Christine Pride; Guest Agents Kate McKean from Howard Morhaim Literary Agency and Kiana Nguyen from Donald Maass Literary Agency

Session 2: March 25th-29th Author-in-Residence Cleyvis Natera; Guest Agents Natalie Edwards from Trellis Literary Management and Jade Wong-Baxter from Frances Goldin Literary Agency

Session 3: April 8th-12th Author-in-Residence Jo Piazza; Guest Agents Bibi Lewis from Ethan Ellenberg Literary Agency and Laura Cameron from Transatlantic Agency

You may apply to any and all retreats by clicking the boxes next to the one(s) you'd like above. After November 7th we will reach out to confirm you are still interested in the retreat, as well as to confirm the sessions you'd like to attend. You will only be accepted into one session.

Personal Statement + Writing Sample*

Personal Statement: Please begin your pages with a 400-word (max) personal statement. This is your moment to tell us why you want to join us and why this retreat interests you. We want to get to know you, so please be candid! Be sure to include what you hope to gain from this experience. Writing Sample: Please upload a MAXIMUM of 5,000 words--double-spaced, 12 point font, Times New Roman. Because of the number of submissions we receive, we cannot read more work, even if you're about to get to the good part. You may submit published or unpublished work from a novel or short story you've written. Our goal is to see your writing talents and be sure you are a good fit for the retreat. These pages do not have to be what you decide to workshop at the retreat if accepted. The total word count for the submission should not exceed 5,400 words.

Drop files here or

Accepted file types: doc, pdf, docx, Max. file size: 5 MB, Max. files: 1.

Application Fee*

I understand to be considered, my application requires a non-refundable $25 fee.

Total Due Today

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