8th Annual All-Genre NIP Week May 23-29, 2021 // New Speculative Fiction NIP Week August 1-7, 2021
Writers of Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, and related Speculative Fiction genres next year will have a week of their own to focus on their books-in-progress, the Novel-In-Progress Board of Directors announced. Monday, June 22, the Board approved holding the first Speculative Fiction NIP Bookcamp workshop and Writing Retreat, two six-day, residential writing instructional programs on August 1-7, 2021.
The eighth annual NIP All-Genre Bookcamp & Writing Retreat will be held May 23-29 next year. Registration is now open for both the All-Genre and Speculative Fiction NIPs.
Speculative Fiction, according to Wikipedia, is “a broad category of fiction encompassing genres with certain creative elements that do not exist in the real world, often involving supernatural, futuristic, or other imaginative themes. These genres include, but not limited to, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, Superhero Fiction, Alternate History, Utopian and Dystopian Fiction, Science Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Supernatural Fiction, Magic Realism, and combinations thereof.ˮ
“This has been something we have discussed for the past year or two,ˮ said NIP Director Dave Rank. “Since our first Bookcamp in 2014, we have held our residential workshop and retreat in May, Our Bookcamp and the Writing Retreat programs have always been open to writers working in any fiction genre or creative nonfiction. And each year we have enjoyed the company of science fiction and fantasy writers.ˮ
The NIP conducts its residential programs at Cedar Valley UCCI, a 100-acre retreat center in southeast Wisconsin that provides comfortable overnight accommodations, meeting space, and meals, Rank explained.
“Over the past seven years, our enrollment has grown, and while each NIP program is limited to 15 enrollees or less, we are nearing capacity at Cedar Valley,ˮ Rank said. “Unfortunately, this yearʼs coronavirus pandemic forced us to first reschedule then cancel outright our 2020 NIP. Still, before the cancellation, we were considering ways to accommodate a full house of writers.ˮ
With that in mind, the NIP director said, it was decided to expand the nonprofit educational organizationʼs programming into two separate week with the August sessions designed for writers of Speculative Fiction. Both the May and August NIP instructional staffs will continue to be composed of professional authors, editors, and literary agents providing insight and advice on the writing craft and the business of publishing, Rank said. “Weʼll announce our staff instructors for both NIPS in the next few weeks.ˮ
For more information on the May All-Genre and August Speculative Fiction NIP Bookcamps and Writing Retreat programs, go to the website, www.novelbookcamp.org, or contact NIP Director Dave Rank directly via email, director@novelbookcamp.org.
Rosters for both 2021 Bookcamps and both Writing Retreats are partially filled already, the NIP director said.
One registration fee includes programming, overnight accommodations, and all meals. Bookcamp enrollments are limited to 15 writers. Registration for the Writing Retreat is also restricted. Private overnight accommodations are reserved on a first-come/first-served basis. Shared room options also are available, and commuter registrants are accepted.
The Bookcamp offers morning instruction, an afternoon editing clinic, group critique sessions, discussions on the current publishing industry, one-on-one consultations with our staff, an afternoon editing clinic, pitch sessions with literary agents and acquisition editors, and presentations on writing or publishing topics.
The Writing Retreat provides plenty of individual writing time, access to the editing clinic, a Retreat Mentor offering encouragement or advice, and options to attend group critique sessions and Bookcamp presentations.
The NIP Bookcamp & Writing Retreat is held late in May at Cedar Valley UCCI, (https://www.ucci.org/cedar-valley/), which is 35 miles northwest of Milwaukee and near West Bend, Wisconsin. It can easily be reached from US Highway I-41.
An application screening process is used to enroll in the Bookcamp workshop.
The Bookcamp and Writing Retreat are owned by the Novel-In-Progress Bookcamp & Writing Retreat, Inc., a 501(c)(3) educational nonprofit corporation registered in the State of Wisconsin.
The NIP works with the Chicago Writers Association (https://www.chicagowrites.org/), the Off-Campus Writers’ Workshop (https://ocwwinfo7333.wildapricot.org/), Winnetka, Ill., and the Wisconsin Writers Association (https://wiwrite.org/). Registration discounts are offered to members of those organizations.
