The League's Website Has Moved
Please visit us at www.leagueofvermontwriters.org
Our new site has information about and registration forms for the April meeting with mystery writer Nancy Means Wright, documentary filmmaker Holly Stadtler, and a special celebration of National Poetry Month. Also, the May Poetry Workshop with David Weinstock. And, of course, our July conference, "Timeless Craft, Timely Skills." Check the new website often for updates.
The League of Vermont Writers
— Then and
Now
In 1929, luminaries Dorothy Canfield Fisher and Helen Hartness Flanders helped establish what would become the League of Vermont Writers. In the 21st Century the League's membership includes such well-known names as Chris Bojahlian, Joe Citro, David Huddle, and Ellen Bryant Voight. Early speakers such as Frances Parkinson Keyes, Robert Frost, and Dorothy Thompson, were eminent figures in their day. These days our speakers include nationally known authors Archer Mayor, Tim Brookes, and Katherine Paterson.
Continuity amid change is a hallmark of Vermont's oldest state-wide writers' organization. While the League continues to adapt to changes in the publishing industry and advances in technology, as Karen Lorentz wrote in her history of the League's first 75 years, "one thing has remained steady — the desire to promote education and networking among members so as to inspire writing and expand opportunities for publication." The League of Vermont Writers invites you to join an organization that has been working with and for writers in the Green Mountain State for nearly 80 years.
Membership visit our membership page
First suggested by Professor Arthur Peach of Norwich University, Walter Coates, and Daniel Cady, the state writers' association grew from a discussion among some thirty writers, held September 25, 1929. A year later 130 writers attended the first informal meeting and set the membership fee at $1. The League continues to be a membership-based organization. Numbers have fluctuated, falling to as few as 56 in 1953 and rising to almost 300 in the 1990s. In 2007, with dues set at $30 for individuals, the League has some 186 members.
In 1931 the association became the League of Vermont Writers. The constitution and by-laws were adopted in 1932. The League became a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization for the first time in 1970, a status it re-attained in 2006. The League remains an all-volunteer organization; members serve on the board, organize conferences and workshops, and assist with operations in a variety of capacities.
Regular Meetings
Meetings, conferences, and workshops have always been the heart of League activity, offering members a break from the solitude of the writing life, as well as an opportunity to develop their professional skills and make professional contacts.
The League's meeting schedule has evolved from a single annual meeting held in various locations around the state. In the 1950s, to increase the all-time low membership, a second meeting was added. The third meeting and fourth meetings evolved in the 1970s, with an informal discussion and potluck lunch filling the vacancy left when the Summer Institutes (see below) ended. The fourth meeting is a fall retreat, held first at Gove Hill and, since 2002, at the Bishop Booth Conference Center in Burlington.
In 1980 the League adopted the practice of holding quarterly meetings on the fourth Saturdays in January, April, July, and September. The January meeting is the official annual meeting, at which reports are presented to the membership and officers and directors-at-large are elected. The tradition of holding meetings around the state has evolved into a pattern: the January meeting is held in the Burlington area, the April meeting near Rutland. The July meeting alternates between northern and southern Vermont, and includes a potluck picnic with one or two speakers. The September meeting is a retreat. Details about upcoming meetings are posted on the Upcoming Events page.
Conferences and Workshops
The League's first conference was held in 1944, when UVM was the location for the Summer Institute. Featuring workshops by respected professional writers, editors, and publishers, the Summer Institute lasted until about 1970. It would be 1990 before the League sponsored another conference. The three-day Dorothy Canfield Fischer Conference was held under the League's auspices from 1990 to1993, spun off into a private endeavor, and ended in 1997.
Aside from League meetings and conferences, the League has a history of supporting members who want to organize workshops on specific aspects of writing and publishing. Past topics have included writing fiction, non-fiction book proposals, building characters, writing for the sports market, writing for children, and giving readings. Like all League events, these workshops are open to the public.
Publications
League Lines, the official newsletter, began in 1942 as two pages of mimeographed news designed to connect LVW members throughout the year. In the 1970s League Lines was professionally printed on colorful bond paper. By the 1980s it was being produced on a computer. In 1992 the League had a masthead designed and League Lines expanded to its current eight pages, with reports on the previous meeting, the agenda for the next, and an opportunity for members to share their publication credits.
In 1991 the League produced the first of three Vermont Voices anthologies, collections of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry by League members, edited by League members. Vermont Voices I and II are out of print, but copies of Vermont Voices III are still available.
Lending Library
The first lending library was established in 1942, with Dorothy Canfield Fisher making one of the first contributions, How to Write a Novel. The lending library was revived in 1990 and disbanded in 2009, following the retirement of Phyllis Deming, who served as librarian for many, many years.
The League archives are maintained at Special Collections, Bailey-Howe Library, at the University of Vermont.
