Registration covers attendance to one week of the conference and includes all seminars, panel discussions, and evening readings during the week. Attendees choose 2 classes a day in any genre; attend evening readings from visiting faculty, a panel discussion on the writing life, a seminar on publishing and editing, and have the opportunity to share their work during the attendee reading celebration at the end of the week. Registration does not cover travel/lodging/food on the island.

Cancellations made before April 1st are eligible for a full refund of registration and lodging fees, less a $300 non-refundable deposit.

​

Cancellations made on or after April 1st are eligible for a 50% refund of registration and lodging fees, provided we are able to fill your vacated spot. If we are unable to fill your spot, the payment is non-refundable and cannot be applied toward a following year. No exceptions.

​

One-on-One Editorial Feedback Sessions are non-refundable, as spaces are limited and reserved at the time of registration. 

All attendees are in charge of their own meals, but all of our lodging options include shared kitchen spaces with plenty of fridge space as well as cookware to prepare meals. So whether you are sharing a cottage with several attendees or staying at the Vineyard Arts Project, both options will have those amenities. All of this is located about a ten minute walk into the center of town (Edgartown), which has a great variety of fine restaurants, grocery stores, welcoming cafes and bars, and a local bookstore and movie theatre. If you're interested in looking up the area, the Vineyard Arts Project is located at 215 Upper Main St, Edgartown, MA 02539.

No!  MVICW believes in the importance of cross-genre, hybrid, and experimental work! Attendees are encouraged to take classes outside of their genre and to explore all the options available to them while at MVICW.

Editorial feedback Sessions are available as a $150 add-on to your registration and includes a 45-minute one-on-one, in-person consultation with one of our Visiting Writers. You are able to submit an excerpt of prose or poetry following these guidelines: 
 

• For prose (fiction or CNF): submit a single prose piece of up to 15 double-spaced pages (standard 12 pt font, 1-inch margins, Times New Roman).

• For poetry: submit up to 3-4 poems with a max page count of 8 pages or less (standard 12 pt font, Times New Roman).

During the session you'll receive individualized feedback and advice on what you submitted as well as be able to ask questions about craft elements or the process of seeking publication. When you upload your excerpt, there will be a place where you can give a brief summary of the piece as well as specify what you would like the focus of the session to be.

Because of the limited availability of editing sessions, this fee is non-refundable and the submission is due by end of day April 1st. Due to the time needed to read and edit submissions, we are unable to accept late submissions. If your submission is not submitted by the deadline, you will forfeit your editorial session fee.

Absolutely!  We have had many returning attendees over the year. Our visiting writers and classes change every year, and one of the greatest parts of our program is the diversity of attendees who attend from around the world.  By returning to MVICW, attendees get the opportunity to continue to deepen their craft and their writing community. 

We have put together a housing questionnaire that asks a few questions regarding personal preferences / lifestyle to help us pair you with compatible room- and housemates. Of course, if you are attending the conference with anyone you know personally and would like to be paired together, you're welcome to let us know and we can pair you together.

The short answer is no. Because we have a limited amount of space and because the communal lodging is designed for writers to have a safe place and time just among other writers, we cannot accommodate children, friends, or families not participating in the conference at MVICW lodging. However, there are a number of options for attendees who want to come to the island with their families including private rentals, hotels, the local hostel, and the MVICW campgrounds. Just keep in mind the events will be held at 215 Upper Main Street, Edgartown MA, so it's best to find something within walking distance. 

In the past, we've had attendees utilize the following options:

​

• Private Rentals: Airbnb, Vrbo, and WeNeedAVacation all have excellent options

• Hotels: There are a handful of hotels in the area such as The Edgar and Square.

• The Vineyard Campgrounds is one of the most affordable options on the island but does require about a 10 minute bus ride, or is within bicycle distance.

• Another affordable option is the Vineyard Hostel which offers dormitory style beds. Just note this will require about a 20 minute bus ride to and from the event space and it typically fills up very quickly. 

​

As a reminder, all of our events take place at 215 Upper Main St, Edgartown, MA 02539 so it's best to try and find something within walking / biking / transit distance of that address (unless you plan on renting a car, of course). 

The other two local towns are Oak Bluffs and Vineyard Haven which have both vacation rentals and hotel options (and the local bus runs between towns easily).

Our conference usually maxes out at about 70 attendees; since we run two classes at the same time, that usually divides that number where you'll see 30-35 people in a workshop with an instructor. (This will vary sometimes depending on the popularity of the workshop, but majority of the time we see a pretty even split.) 

Check out our handy guide for travel to the island. There are many options including flying to the island, bus and ferry transportation, fast ferry travel (from RI, NY & NJ), and driving your car onto the boat for the island. 

Unlike other programs, MVICW's focus in generative, and we aim to reduce the feeling of pressure or trying to pitch/sell your work during your time at the institute. While the process of preparing work for submissions and publishing and editing is covered at the end of the program, we do not have agent-pitch meetings, etc. so that you can focus entirely on the writing and creative process.  

We allocate every dollar we receive in application fees to creating more fellowships for writers of color, queer writers, parent-writers, and educators. And so with each fellowship application you're not simply expanding your own chances of attending MVICW on a funded fellowship, but you're supporting increased opportunities for other deserving writers.

Absolutely! You can submit to as many fellowships that apply to you. Each fellowship you apply to does require its own application fee/letter and you are only eligible to win one fellowship prize. In the event that you are selected for multiple, you will receive the bigger prize.

Authors and poets who are interested in becoming a visiting writer should send a copy of their book/s to Alexander Weinstein. Please email him at director@mvicw.com to indicate your interest in teaching at MVICW and to request the mailing address. 

We’re very excited to keep growing, and thanks to all the incredible feedback from our amazing community members, we have lots of ideas on what you would like to see from us in the future, including increased online classes and workshops, and more island opportunities for community building. As we’re still a very small operation, expanding our organization does take time and we can always use more help! If you are interested in helping us expand, you can donate here or inquire about potential volunteer opportunities for future programs by emailing us at director@mvicw.com.