Since 1981, the Napa Valley Writers’ Conference has attracted an unparalleled roster of leading poets and fiction writers as faculty. Below is a complete list:
Napa Valley Writers Conference Faculty since 1981
2023 Victoria Chang, Brenda Hillman, Ilya Kaminsky, Carl Phillips, Lan Samantha Chang, Katie Crouch, Peter Orner, Crystal Wilkinson, Robert Hass
2022 Jane Hirshfield, Major Jackson, Dana Levin, Patricia Smith, Kevin Brockmeier, Lan Samantha Chang, Michelle Huneven, ZZ Packer, Forrest Gander
2021 Victoria Chang, Brenda Hillman, Brian Teare, Matthew Zapruder, Charles Baxter, Lan Samantha Chang, Daniel Orozco, Joan Silber, Robert Hass
2020
(no conference)
2009
Elizabeth Alexander, Carl Dennis, Jane Hirshfield, David St. John, Robert Boswell, Peter Ho Davies, Antonya Nelson, ZZ Packer
2008
Ron Carlson, Lan Samantha Chang, Ehud Havazalet, Ann Packer, Mark Doty, Nick Flynn, Brenda Hillman, Claudia Rankine, Paul Lisicky
2007
Dan Chaon, Laura Kasischke, Antonya Nelson, Christopher Tilghman, Elizabeth Alexander, Stephen Dunn, Jane Hirshfield, David St. John, Robert Boswell
2006
Ron Carlson, Michelle Huneven, Antonya Nelson, ZZ Packer, Forrest Gander, Brenda Hillman, Arthur Sze, C.D. Wright
2005
Lan Samantha Chang, Claire Messud, Joan Silber, Christopher Tilghman, Jane Hirshfield, Brigit Pegeen Kelly, J. D. McClatchy, C. Dale Young
2004
Douglas Bauer, Chang-rae Lee, Aimee Bender, Jim Shepard, Mary Jo Bang, Brenda Hillman, Harryette Mullen, Arthur Sze
2003
Stephen Dunn, Jane Hirshfield, Dorianne Laux, Marilyn Nelson, Robert Cohen, Peter Ho Davies, Claire Messud, Christopher Tilghman
2002
Gillian Conoley, Forrest Gander, Brenda Hillman, C.D. Wright, Douglas Bauer, Ron Carlson, Lan Samantha Chang, Molly Giles
2001
Aga Shahid Ali, Cyrus Cassells, Heather McHugh, Jane Hirshfield, Dorothy Allison, Amy Bloom, Stuart Dybek, Christopher Tilghman
2000
Forrest Gander, Brenda Hillman, Claudia Rankine, David St. John, Michael Cunningham, Gretel Erlich, Lynn Freed, Jane Smiley
1999
Mark Doty, Lynn Emanuel, Jane Hirshfield, David Lehman, Richard Bausch, Kathryn Harrison, Elizabeth McCracken, Christopher Tilghman
1998
Carolyn Forché, Brenda Hillman, Carl Phillips, Michael Cunningham, Christina Garcia, Molly Giles, Alice Mattison; special guest Tobias Wolff
1997
Jack Gilbert, Edward Hirsch, Jane Hirshfield, Carol Snow, Michael Cunningham, Lynn Freed, Mary Gaitskill, Christopher Tilghman
1996
Jane Hirshfield, Marie Howe, Robert Pinsky, David St. John, Andrea Barrett, Michael Cunningham, Lynn Freed, Christopher Tilghman
1995
Stephen Dunn, Kathleen Fraser, Brenda Hillman, Marie Howe, Ron Carlson, Pam Houston, Fenton Johnson, David Shields
1994
Jane Hirshfield, Garrett Hongo, David St. John, Pam Houston, David Shields, Christopher Tilghman; special guest: Brenda Hillman
1993
Jack Gilbert, Edward Hirsch, Jane Hirshfield, Carol Snow, Michael Cunningham, Lynn Freed, Mary Gaitskill, Christopher Tilghman
1992
Brenda Hillman, Garrett Hongo, Chase Twichell, Frederick Busch, Ron Hansen, Margot Livesey; special guest: Russell Banks
1991
James Galvin, Jorie Graham, Brenda Hillman, Rosellen Brown, Ron Hansen, Patricia Henley, Bob Shacochis
1990
Brenda Hillman, Garrett Hongo, Carolyn Kizer, Steve Kowit, Ethan Canin, Louis B. Jones, Anne Lamott, Dennis McFarland
1989
Brenda Hillman, Steve Kowit, Czeslaw Milosz, Gerald Stern, Ellen Bryant Voigt, Alice Adams, Ethan Canin, Mary Hedin, Anne Lamott, Dennis McFarland
1988
Frank Bidart, Louise Glück, Robert Pinsky, Ethan Canin, Mary Hedin, Anne Lamott, John Leggett; special guest: Robert Hass
1987
Ron Hansen, Mary Hedin, Anne Lamott, Jack Leggett, Brenda Hillman, Steve Kowit, Robert Pinsky; special guest: Diane Johnson
1986
Mary Hedin, Anne Lamott, Jack Leggett; special guest: Alice Adams
1985
Frank Bidart, Sharon Doubiago, Philip Dow, Carolyn Forché, Robert Hass, Jane Hirshfield, Galway Kinnell, Carolyn Kizer, Sandra McPherson, Diana O’Hehir, Robert Pinsky
1984
Philip Dow, Carolyn Forché, Robert Hass, Galway Kinnell, Brendan O’Hehir, Alan Soldofsky
1981-1983
Frank Bidart, Philip Dow, Carolyn Forché, Jorie Graham, Robert Hass, Jane Hirshfield, Galway Kinnell, Carolyn Kizer, Sandra McPherson, Diana O’Hehir, Robert Pinsky, Alan Soldofsky and others