The 2026 NYS Summer Writers Institute schedule of events
- NYS Writers Institute
- Jun 8
- 4 min read
Updated: Jun 9
Four weeks of readings and special events coming to Skidmore College starting Monday, June 22
Public Events Schedule 2026
Events at Skidmore are free and open to the public. Tickets are required for Caffè Lena events.
Note: Events subject to change. For updates, visit the Visiting Writers page on the Skidmore College website.
Unless otherwise noted, all events are held in Davis Auditorium on the Skidmore College campus -- 815 N Broadway, Saratoga Springs, NY 12866.
Week 1
8 p.m. Monday, June 22
Megan Fernandes (poetry) and Megha Majumdar (fiction)
8 p.m. Tuesday, June 23
Jerald Walker (fiction) and Susan Minot (fiction)
8 p.m. Wednesday, June 24
“Why Talk About Ourselves” with Elizabeth Benedict and Robert Boyers, moderated by Adam Braver
8 p.m. Thursday, June 25
Elizabeth Benedict (fiction) and Rosanna Warren (poetry)
Caffe Lena; tickets required
8 p.m. Friday, June 26
Robert Pinsky (poetry) & Tom Healy (poetry)
3 p.m. Sunday, June 28
Student Reading
Week 2
8 p.m. Monday June 29
Honor Moore (memoir) and Hannah Assadi (fiction)
8 p.m. Tuesday June 30
Carlie Hoffman (poetry) and Vinson Cunningham (fiction)
8 p.m. Wednesday July 1
Elisa Gonzalez (poetry) and Binnie Kirshenbaum (fiction)
8 p.m. Thursday July 2
April Bernard (poetry) and Steve Stern (fiction)
8 p.m. Friday July 3
Phillip Lopate (non-fiction) and Campbell McGrath (poetry)
Week 3
8 p.m. Monday July 6
Amy Hempel (fiction) and Tracy O’Neill (fiction)
8 p.m. Tuesday July 7
Paul Harding (fiction) and Sandra Lim (poetry)
8 p.m. Wednesday July 8
Mary Gaitskill (fiction) and Peg Boyers (poetry)
8 p.m. Thursday July 9
Caryl Phillips (fiction) and Chase Twichell (poetry)
8 p.m. Friday July 10
Rick Moody (fiction) and Adam Braver (fiction)
11 a.m. Saturday, July 11
“Consciousness, Neurology, and Literature” with Rick Moody and Sean Pauzauskie, MD
3 p.m. Sunday July 12
Student Reading
Week 4
8 p.m. Monday July 13
Joyce Carol Oates (fiction) and Henri Cole (poetry)
8 p.m. Tuesday July 14
Joanna Scott (fiction) and Jay Rogoff (poetry) Reading
8 p.m. Wednesday July 15
A conversation with New York Times columnist John McWhorter: “What’s Going On” led by Robert Boyers, followed by an audience Q&A
8 p.m. Thursday July 16
Jim Shepard (fiction) and Ishion Hutchinson (poetry)
Caffe Lena; tickets required
8 p.m. Friday July 17
“The Writer and Politics” -- Discussion with Robert Boyers and Francine Prose
About the Summer Writers Institute
Since its inception in 1987, the NYS Summer Writers Institute has attracted award-winning writers and enthusiastic audiences to its summer home at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs.
Co-founded by Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist William Kennedy and Skidmore professor and Salmagundi literary journal editor Robert Boyers, the NYS Summer Writers Institute is now co-directed by Boyers and author Adam Braver.
Excerpt from last year's conversation with Bob Boyers.
What keeps audiences coming back to Saratoga Springs each summer?
Bob Boyers: When Bill Kennedy first approached Skidmore with the idea of starting a summer writers program, we thought this would be a good thing, and that it would probably last for a few years at most.
Now that we’re still going strong, we can’t help feeling somewhat amazed that we’ve managed on a shoestring budget to bring to Saratoga Springs many of the best writers in the world over several decades, and that they continue to return to us year after year.
What makes it special?
Bob: The word ‘community’ is often used promiscuously, with little justification, but ours really is a community of writers and friends. Nothing gives me greater pleasure than presiding over a program that combines new faces and veteran faces, brilliant students from all over the country, and challenging, often controversial writers.
Garth Greenwell, who won this year’s PEN/Faulkner Award, first came to us as a 19-year-old poetry student. Cristina Garcia, whose Dreaming in Cuban was championed by Russell Banks, was also a student here in the early 1990s. There’s nothing more gratifying than watching their journeys and knowing the Institute was part of it.
Q: What’s the best thing that book lovers will find when they attend one of your events?
Bob: Book lovers in and around Saratoga Springs will of course find that many of their favorite writers are scheduled to read from their works in progress and to answer questions about their work. But just as exciting is the opportunity to discover new voices — writers who may become your next favorites.
The public events aren’t limited to readings. The calendar includes panel discussions, author interviews, film nights, and book signings.
The spirit at our public events is infectious. An auditorium filled with writers and readers brings to everyone present the feeling that writing can matter — that thoughtful people can come together night after night to be challenged, to learn from one another, and to celebrate what is good.