essay 30

a virtual summer writing residency

July 6 – August 7, 2026

This summer, join a group of nonfiction writers committed to writing an essay (or a chapter) in 30 hours, over 33 days.

Not a workshop or class, but a spookily effective combination of deep focus, just enough community, structure, inspiration, and good advice. For experimental essayists seeking to shape a regular practice, writers wrestling with book contracts, experienced nonfiction writers who want sparks, company, surprise. Or who are stalled and despairing. Don’t despair. Click below.

Community-based and asynchronous options:

  • Shared and individualized prompts to inspire and challenge you from note-making to the finished draft

  • Monday evening craft conversations and writing time on zoom, or videos if asynchronous

  • Friday office hours

  • Sunday night deadlines

  • Two private developmental editing sessions

  • Encouragement in the margins of new pages — but no obligation to read or give feedback to others

  • Final reading

Suggested price: $400-600 (sliding scale)

Application Deadline: June 1

LEARN MORE AND APPLY

From past participants…

Essay 30 created time where I didn’t think I had any. I finished two essays and fell in love with sentences again. And I established a daily writing practice I can actually sustain, even on my busiest days. Writing feels alive to me again. This was transformative!

—Stephanie H.

Essay 30 made me write, rather than wait for the urge, and it made me think about the craft in ways that expanded my ideas around what my project could be.

—Heather G.

Essay 30 was life changing for my process. By coming back to the page each day for 30 days, I went beyond the "class" to begin developing a practice that is informing my writing in more nuanced and unspoken ways.

—Melissa S.

So very thankful I did this. It showed me how to better integrate writing into my daily routine and re-ignited my enthusiasm for the craft of writing. Essay 30 proved to me that I don’t need perfect conditions or my special place to write, that I can make a ritual of spending time with myself, no matter where I am, to do what I love.

—Amanda P.