Celebrating our 30th Anniversary

This summer, the Sun Valley Writers’ Conference (SVWC) will celebrate 30 years of bringing together the finest writers of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and journalism to an extraordinary audience of readers and devotees of the literary arts. More than 1,500 passholders, as well as members of the local community who enjoy free access on the spacious lawn, will gather for presentations at the Sun Valley Resort and Pavilion.

“If I had to choose a phrase to describe our unique gathering, I would say that beyond a doubt, it is simply richly rewarding,” says Robin Eidsmo, SVWC’s Executive Director. “Our programs, typically curated more than a year in advance, are designed to stimulate both the head and the heart, and to give the writers and the attendees a welcome time for reflection, laughter, and respite.”

Many of today’s most influential thought leaders and creative minds continue an unsurpassed tradition of quality, intimacy, and inspiration. As SVWC Literary Director John Burnham Schwartz emphasizes, “Our goal has always been to put on the most interesting and inspiring literary event that we can all imagine together. What our success and longevity has allowed us to do is to continue to add breadth and depth to our programming every single year. We couldn’t be more grateful to our fantastic audience and to our donors for supporting these efforts, and we are already looking forward to the next 30 years!”

SVWC, through generous donations, has recently been able to expand its programming into Wood River Valley libraries and schools, to offer dozens of scholarships to local students and teachers, and to develop a fellowship program for aspiring young writers from around the country. In 2022, a new category was carved out—the New Voices Fellowship—to showcase some of the today’s most exciting, original, and daring debut fiction talent.

The 2024 Conference will be held Saturday, July 20 through Monday, July 22. Among this year’s presenters—one of the most extraordinary groups of writers SVWC has ever brought together—the iconic Judy Blume will discuss her amazing career writing books that literally shaped the hearts and minds of generations of girls (and more than a few boys too); Erik Larson will bring us into the dramatic five months between Lincoln’s election and the start of the Civil War; Maggie O’Farrell, Kristin Hannah, and Ayana Mathis will discuss the literary and historical origins of their acclaimed historical novels; CNN’s Clarissa Ward will give us an intimate portrait of life on the frontlines in Gaza, Ukraine, and other war zones; Jonathan Eig will talk about the life of Martin Luther King, Jr.; and Padma Lakshmi and Ruth Reichl will trade stories from their lives spent tasting, eating, and writing about food, glorious food.

The full list of SVWC 2024 speakers includes:

Ayad Akhtar, Judy Blume, Justice Stephen Breyer, Rabbi Sharon Brous, Jeffrey Brown, Vinson Cunningham, Jonathan Eig, Andrea Elliott, Drew Gilpin Faust, Niall Ferguson, Jeffrey Goldberg, Kristin Hannah, Jean Hanff Korelitz, Padma Lakshmi, Anne Lamott, Erik Larson, Dennis Lehane, Ayana Mathis, Tiya Miles, David Miliband, Paul Muldoon, Maggie O’Farrell, Tommy Orange, Evan Osnos, Pamela Paul, Ruth Reichl, Jeffrey Rosen, James Shapiro, John Vaillant, and Clarissa Ward.

Stay tuned to the SVWC website as the list of 2024 speakers continues to grow.

Passes for 2024 will go on sale February 22 on our website. There are two pass types—a Full Conference Pass ($1,100) and a Next Generation Pass ($550) for those 35 and under. Passes will be sold online on a first-come, first-served basis (starting at 10:00 AM Mountain Time on February 22). There is a limited number available and, as in years past, they are expected to sell out quickly—possibly within minutes.

If passes sell out, stay tuned to the free community events page. There will be information about free speakers in partnership with The Community Library, free livestreaming, free Lawn Talks, and more. For specific Pavilion talks, single event tickets will also be available. Sign up for the SVWC email newsletter for important updates and information.

Can’t wait to see you there!

ABOUT THE CONFERENCE

Thirty years ago, the founders of the Sun Valley Writers’ Conference sat around a kitchen table and dreamt up what would become today’s best premier literary conference. Over the last three decades, more than 500 poets, playwrights, historians, novelists, and musicians have graced the stage at SVWC, including novelists Alice McDermott and Hernan Diaz, poets Naomi Shihab Nye and Rita Dove, and longtime friend of the Conference, Frank McCourt. Titans of literature like Salman Rushdie and Isabel Allende have shared space and ideas with exciting new voices like Ocean Vuong and Tommy Orange. “Thirty years is a long time,” writes SVWC Associate Director Anne Taylor Fleming, “but it feels as if we have kept our soul intact.”

For several days each summer at the Sun Valley Resort, some of the country’s—and the world’s—best writers and thinkers, including fiction and nonfiction writers, journalists, playwrights, poets, and filmmakers, talk about their work and the world at the Sun Valley Writers’ Conference. The event’s past presenters have included Pulitzer Prize winners, National Book Award winners, and winners of the elite Mann Booker Prize given in Great Britain. Together, writers and readers freely exchange ideas, concerns, hopes, and aspirations.

The audience enjoys talks presented in the stunning outdoor Sun Valley Pavilion and smaller, more intimate sessions with favorite speakers, as well as musical performances and films. The Sun Valley Writers’ Conference is an Idaho nonprofit organization. For more information, please visit svwc.com. Photographs are available upon request.