Tuition for Writing Workshops Portland: September 16–21, 2026
Writing Workshops Portland September 2026
September 16–21, 2026
Portland is built for writers.
This is the city of Powell's Books, of Ursula K. Le Guin, of a coffee culture so serious it became its own art form. The Pacific Northwest has always been a place where people come to think more slowly, look more carefully, and write more honestly, and for one week in September 2026, we're bringing our most intimate retreat program to Portland.
Led by Antonio Ruiz-Camacho, Minda Honey, and Sanibel Lazar, Writing Workshops Portland brings together fiction and nonfiction writers for an intensive week of workshops, craft seminars, one-on-one conferences, and in-depth conversations about the craft and business of writing.
Our program is intentionally small: two fiction cohorts and one nonfiction cohort, each capped at 10 writers, led by three of the most distinctive voices working in American literature today.
How the Week Works
Every writer in the program submits two completed pieces of writing before arrival. The first is workshopped by your cohort and instructor. The second goes into your private one-on-one conference with your workshop leader — time set aside just for you and your work.
Daily craft talks are open to all participants. Optional afternoon seminars go deep on specific elements of craft and the writing life. Evenings belong to the group: dinners, a coffee tasting in the morning, a wine tasting in the evening, and a final reading on the last night.
This is not a large conference. There are no panels of strangers, no name tags on lanyards. There are 30 writers and three extraordinary teachers, spending a week together in one of America's great literary cities.
WORKSHOP FACULTY
Antonio Ruiz-Camacho — Fiction: National Magazine Award finalist. Jesse H. Jones Award winner for Best Book of Fiction. Knight Journalism Fellow at Stanford. Dobie Paisano Fellow at UT Austin. Antonio's debut story collection Barefoot Dogs was named a Best Book by Kirkus Reviews, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Texas Observer, and PRI's The World. His work has appeared in The New York Times, Salon, and Texas Monthly. He holds an MFA from The New Writers Project at UT Austin. You will leave his workshop a different writer than you arrived.
Minda Honey — Nonfiction: Minda Honey's essays on politics and relationships have appeared in Harper's Bazaar, The Washington Post, The Guardian, the Oxford American, and Longreads. Her debut memoir, The Heartbreak Years (Little A, 2023), is a portrait of a woman figuring out who she is and who she wants to be — intimate, hilarious, and deeply honest. Her work appears in anthologies including Burn It Down: Women Writing About Anger and A Measure of Belonging: 21 Writers of Color on the New American South. She is the kind of teacher who makes you braver on the page.
Sanibel Lazar — Fiction: Sanibel Lazar turned a self-published debut into a USA Today bestseller through sheer creative force and an audience she built on her own terms. Her second novel, Does This Make Me Look Rich?, is forthcoming from Union Square in 2027. Her essays and criticism appear in New York magazine, ELLE, Air Mail, and Literary Hub. She is the creator of Sad Rich Girls (via Bindery) and one of the most original voices on the intersection of money, identity, and desire in American writing today.
Lodging at Hotel Lucia
Home base for the week is Hotel Lucia, a downtown Portland landmark known for its extensive photography collection, its creative energy, and its location in the beating heart of the city. Bookstores, coffee shops, galleries, and great restaurants are steps from the front door. Your own private room is included in your tuition. Check in on Wednesday, September 16. Check out Monday, September 21.
Class Size
Weekly Schedule
Wednesday, September 16
4:00 p.m. — Check-in at Hotel Lucia
5:30 p.m. — Meet-and-greet happy hour
Thursday, September 17 – Sunday, September 20
8:45 a.m.–2:45 p.m. — Workshops and one-on-one conferences with your instructor
3:00–4:00 p.m. — Optional afternoon seminars
Evenings — Optional group dinners, wine tasting, and a final group reading
Monday, September 21
12:00 p.m. — Check-out
**Details subject to change. The final version will be sent out a few weeks before the trip.
Why Portland. Why Now.
There's something about a literary city that loosens the writing. You walk past a bookstore and feel the permission to take your work seriously. You sit in a coffee shop and hear the particular silence of people thinking. Portland has that quality — a creative atmosphere that seeps into everything, that makes the work feel more possible.
Since 2018, we've taken writers to Paris, Dublin, Tuscany, Iceland, New Orleans and beyond. Every retreat we've run has produced writers who left with finished work, new friendships, and a clearer sense of where they're going. Portland will be no different.
Included Optional Activities
Tuition
Tuition is $2,995 USD and includes the following:
- Lodging in your own room at the Hotel Lucia for 6 days, 5 nights
- 4-day writing workshops in small groups of no more than 10 writers, led by program faculty
- Critical feedback on writing submissions
- Daily craft of writing and/or business of writing seminars
- One-on-one conference with faculty
- Third Wave Coffee Tour and Wine Tasting at The Portland Wine Bar.
- Please Note: meals, including breakfast, lunch, and dinner, are not included in the price of tuition.
- Can I bring my partner or a guest? If you would like to bring your partner or a guest along for the trip (and share a room), the cost is $695 for the Portland Workshop.
Application & General FAQ
How much does it cost?
Tuition is $2,995 USD. If your application is accepted, full tuition is due within 10 days. Upon acceptance, you will have the option to pay your tuition in full or opt for a payment plan by selecting Affirm at checkout.
Can I bring my partner or a guest?
If you would like to bring your partner or a guest along for the trip (and share a room), the cost is $695 for the Portland Workshop.
What is your refund policy for the workshop in Portland?
Given the intimate nature of our destination workshops and our own, non-refundable deposit schedule as organizers, our refund policy is as follows:
90+ days before your trip, tuition payment minus a $900 deposit is fully refundable.
60+ days before your trip: 50% of your tuition is refundable.
30+ days before your: 25% of your tuition is refundable.
Less than 30 days before your trip: no refunds can be offered.
What does tuition include?
- Lodging in your own room at Hotel Lucia for 5 nights
- 4-day writing workshops in small groups of no more than 10, led by program faculty
- Critical feedback on writing submissions
- Daily craft of writing and/or business of writing seminars
- One-on-one conference with faculty
- Third Wave Coffee Tour and Wine Tasting at The Portland Wine Bar
-
Please Note: meals, including breakfast, lunch, and dinner, are not included in the price of tuition.
Manuscript Submissions
Ahead of our arrival in Portland, students will submit manuscripts according to their genre:
Fiction and Nonfiction Writers will submit two separate pieces of up to 5,000 words each (10,000 words total). One manuscript will be critiqued in the group workshop and include letters of critique from your peers and instructor; your second manuscript will be discussed in a one-on-one conference with your instructor in Portland.
Are Payment Plans Available?
Yes. Accepted writers will have the option to pay their tuition in full or opt for a payment plan divided into equal monthly payments by selecting Affirm (for U.S. & Canadian residents) at checkout.
Are Scholarships Available?
Unfortunately, we do not have the ability to offer scholarships for this workshop. However, we do have payment plans available.
Instructor Substitution Policy
In the event of an instructor's emergency, sickness, or unavailability, Writing Workshops reserves the right to provide a substitute instructor of equivalent caliber to teach the course. If a substitute is provided, the course will proceed as scheduled, and standard refund policies apply.
Where is the hotel and workshop venue?
Immerse yourself in both comfort and inspiration for 6 days, 5 nights at the Hotel Lucia. The 4-star hotel sits in the heart of literary Portland.