The Juniper Initiative for Literary Arts and Action serves as a beacon for literary arts in Western Massachusetts. The Initiative’s programming includes an annual reading series, literary festivals and summer writing conferences. Since 2004, these public offerings have featured emerging and established poets and prose writers, as well as editors, publishers, and book artists. Programs explore the larger context of contemporary letters and literary publishing and encourage creative writers to explore their craft. The Juniper Initiative inspires dialogue about form, genre, and modes of writing, while engaging the public in unique and varied opportunities to join conversations about the literary arts and to energize their writing.
As a national focal point and regional home for literary art, the Juniper Initiative offers a dynamic range of programs including:
Visiting Writers Series
Hosted by the UMass MFA for Poets and Writers each fall, this world-class reading series is free and open to the public, presenting emerging and established writers of poetry and fiction. Each fall semester, students in the undergraduate Living Writers course have the opportunity to meet with our four visiting writers and ask questions about their work. Those visiting writers then read from their latest book at an evening event which is open to the public. The series provides students and the community a unique opportunity to interact with world-renowned writers. To learn more about this year's Visiting Writers Series, please visit the English events page.
Juniper Literary Festival / Admitted Students Weekend
The Juniper Literary Festival is a two-day celebration of poetry, fiction, and creative non-fiction from western Massachusetts and around the world. The festival features readings from internationally known poets and prose writers, panel discussions, conversations with agents, editors, and publishers, and opportunities to talk with emerging and established literary artists. Programs highlight alumni and current students of the MFA for Poets and Writers as past, present, and future contributors to American and international literary arts. Free and open to the public, the festival is easily accessible on the UMass Amherst campus. Since 2018, the Festival coincides with the MFA's Accepted Students Weekend introducing emerging writers to our vibrant literary community. Recent guests of the Juniper Literary Festival include poets CAConrad and Hoa Nguyen, Publisher of Alice James Books Carey Salerno, literary agent Anjali Singh, and alumni readers Shastri Akella and Yvette Lisa Ndlovu. To learn more about this year's Juniper Literary Festival, please visit the English events page.
Juniper Summer Writing Institute
The Juniper Summer Writing Institute is a week-long workshop/ conference hosted by the MFA for Poets & Writers on the UMass Amherst campus. The Institute encourages adult participants to explore the creative process and develop new approaches to the craft of writing through workshops in poetry, fiction, and memoir; craft sessions; and readings. MFA candidates can participate in the adult program as workshop assistants, scholarship readers, and more.
Juniper Institute for Young Writers and Juniper Young Writers Online
Designed for students in grades 8–12, these programs offer workshops in prose, poetry and mixed media, as well as craft sessions, field trips, and participant readings. Events are hosted on the UMass Amherst campus during the summer giving teens an exceptional pre-college experience. Online creative writing programming happens during the winter and summer months.
Graduate student opportunities with the Summer Institute include positions as Directors’ Assistants and Creative Writing Instructors. Directors Assistants work on both programs and gain insight and experience in the administration and production of successful literary programming. MFA students also apply for positions to teach in the Young Writer program, gaining experience in developing mixed genre curricula and working with high school students.
Writers @ Work
This professional development series explores the wide range of careers in which writers and other artists apply their skills, pursue their passions, and earn their livings. Here students gain unparalleled access to a diverse group of professionals including agents and editors.
Juniper Literary Prizes in Fiction, Poetry, and Creative Nonfiction
For poetry, the judges award one prize for a first book of poems, and they select a second winner for an author who has been published previously. For fiction, the judges choose a novel and a collection of short stories. One prize is awarded for a work of creative nonfiction, including (but not limited to) essays, biography, literary journalism, or memoir.
MFA candidates read for these nationally recognized annual book prizes.