HippoCamp: A Conference for Creative Nonfiction Writers
by Hippocampus Magazine and Books
If you love to write true stories, this warm and welcoming summer writing conference was made just for you!
HippoCamp, produced by Hippocampus Magazine and Books, is geared toward writers of all skill levels and backgrounds, and it offers plenty of opportunities for you to hone your craft, explore publishing options, and find ways to balance your writing and "real" life, as well as chances to meet, learn from, and share with writers like you.
This three-day creative writing conference in PA features 50+ notable speakers, engaging sessions in four tracks, interactive panels, readings, social activities, networking opps and optional, intimate pre-conference workshops. All of this, plus meals and snacks, bundled into a great, comprehensive conference rate. Our host city is Lancaster, Pa., a bustling mid-size metropolis rich in history, arts and culture. Explore this site to learn more.
We're excited to welcome 40+ speakers to HippoCamp for sessions, panels and readings
Here's what you can learn...
Updates, previews, and more
One of our favorite things about hosting a writing conference is seeing all of the connections that happen because of it. And the same could be said about other conferences, too! Hippocampus Magazine and Books…
Read moreThis is one of our favorite things that happens post-HippoCamp. An attendee has an amazing time, learns a lot, and then submits a proposal to speak at the next one. That's Linda Lowen's story! We're…
Read moreDayna Bateman and her co-presenter Kevin Behr are leading a session called Kanban for Writers -- which is all about how to "manage your book project with the simple tool technologists use to deliver complex…
Read moreVeronica Park -- or, if you followe her on Twitter, you might know her as @VeroniKABOOM -- was at our inaugural HippoCamp, and we've been friends ever since. We're so excited she's returning this…
Read moreAli Shaw is the owner of Indigo Editing. In her role as editor, she has worked with hundreds of authors to identify their story’s strong points and that elusive spark that’s missing—and taught them how…
Read moreElijah Tomaszewski’s flash session “Beyond the Binary: Writing Transgender Characters” will be one of six featured talks during 6 Speakers, 6 Topics! He received his MFA from Rosemont College and his BA from Susquehanna University,…
Read moreJeanette Hurt is an award-winning writer specializing in examining where culture intersects with food, drink and travel. She is the author of 13 books, including the critically acclaimed Drink Like a Woman and the…
Read moreJoanne Lozar Glenn is a writer, editor, and educator whose work has been published in Beautiful Things, Peregrine, Hippocampus, Brevity, and other print and online journals. As an experienced leader of writing groups and destination…
Read moreDave Pidgeon is a professional writer and photographer from Lancaster, PA (the home of HippoCamp!). His work experience includes newspaper and magazine journalism, where he learned the value of deep investigatory skills. He returns to…
Read moreRachel Dougherty is a Philadelphia-based author/illustrator driven by a love of nonfiction for young readers. She has illustrated several educational picture books and has written one nonfiction early reader. She is the author/illustrator of the…
Read moreRae Pagliarulo is the flash and writing life editor for Hippocampus Magazine, and she also works as a nonprofit development consultant. Her essays, poems, and articles have appeared in Hippocampus, The Manifest-Station, r.kv.r.y. quarterly, the…
Read morePatrice Gopo is the author of the essay collection All the Colors We Will See. Her essays have appeared in a variety of publications. This is her first time attending at HippoCamp, where she will…
Read moreSuzanne Farrell Smith is a writer, editor, and teacher. This is her first time attending HippoCamp, where she will read from her new memoir The Memory Sessions in the debut author panel “A Night of Nonfiction.”…
Read moreHippocampus Magazine and Books is pleased to welcome our friends from Lancaster Story Slam to this year’s event, as they produce a special HippoCamp Edition of their monthly, live storytelling event. On Friday, Aug. 23,…
Read moreEstelle Erasmus is an award-winning journalist, writing coach, and former magazine editor-in-chief of five national consumer publications. She’s been published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Brain, Child, Family Circle and more. This…
Read moreRebecca Fish Ewan is a poet, cartoonist, writer, and zinemaker, as well as a landscape architecture teacher at Arizona State University. Her memoir By the Forces of Gravity was published in 2018. She will…
Read moreJames M. Chesbro is the author of A Lion in the Snow: Essays on a Father’s Journey Home, from which essays chosen as notable selections in The Best American Essays series in 2012, 2014, 2015,…
Read moreTania Pabón Acosta is a writer and a new face at HippoCamp. Her work has appeared in Briller, Gravel, Breadcrumbs Mag, and is forthcoming in Pigeon Pages. Her talk “Things I Remember: Managing Memory to…
Read moreTeresa Wong is a Calgary writer and a debut author and panelist at HippoCamp this year. She will be reading from her first book at “A Night of Nonfiction: Debut Author Readings and Q&A." We…
Read moreLisa Ellison is a familiar face at HippoCamp, and for good reason! She is an editor, writing coach, and a wealth of information about mental health that is relevant to creative nonfiction writers. Her break-out…
Read moreJudith Hannan is an essayist, author, and leader of workshops for those affected by illness, trauma, and social neglect. She will join us this years at HippoCamp as a speaker. Her special topic session “Writing…
Read moreAllison K Williams is a writer, blogger for Brevity, and she has coached authors to deals with Big Five publishers. Her work has appeared on NPR and the New York Times, just to name a…
Read moreBrendan O'Meara is the host of The Creative Nonfiction Podcast. He is joining us at HippoCamp this year to share his podcasting expertise in a session called Power Up Your Network with Podcasting! He is…
Read moreThis will be my fourth year attending, and every year I get more out of it.
Read moreMy breakout session on reading like a writer is dear to my heart.
Read moreAttendees can expect to walk away from my short presentation with reassurance that not every idea has to become an essay...
Read moreSteph Auteri is a writer, editor, and familiar face at HippoCamp.
Read moreWe're excited to share the news about our opening speaking for this year's HippoCamp.
Read moreThe HippoCamp conference team is thrilled to announce the headlining evening keynote for 2019...
Read moreA sneak peek at what you can learn at HippoCamp, a conference for creative nonfiction writers.
Read moreWe thank these organizations for their support
Rosemont’s MFA in creative writing and MA in publishing offers emerging writers, and publishing professionals, the tools and support they need to succeed.
Rosemont CollegeWV Wesleyan’s low-residency MFA is an uncommonly affordable program offering tracks in fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Students join a warm community every summer and winter for an intensive ten-day residency on campus that initiates an independent semester of apprenticeship through correspondence. Faculty-mentor/student ratio never exceeds 1 to 4. Located in central Appalachia, the program welcomes and fosters writing that explores place and identity. Wesleyan also offers cross-genre study, an Ireland Residency, and a residency audit option.
West Virginia Wesleyan