Peninsula Writers — Who We Are
Peninsula Writers is a nonprofit organization dedicated to, you guessed it, writing! We are located in Michigan (hence the Peninsula part of our name), and we host several events each year. Links to information about these conferences can be found on the tabs above. We also help organize and support small writing groups throughout the state where people can gather to discuss and workshop their writing. We help connect writers across the state and provide opportunities to be part of a larger writing community as well as to work on the craft of writing.
Peninsula Writers Mission Statement
The mission of Peninsula Writers is to associate for the benefit of all writers seeking to improve their own work and willing to help others improve theirs in a supportive environment that values the writing process, individual discovery and growth.
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PENINSULA WRITERS
Winter RETREAT 2027
(Beating the Winter Blues)
February 11–14
OPTIONAL pre-conference day
Weds. 2/10
At the MSU W.K. Kellogg Manor, Hickory
Corners, MI
Featuring
Jack Ridl, Poet Laureate of Douglas
Winner National Gold Medal for poetry
Professor emeritus of English, Hope College
The Peninsula Writers Winter Retreat at W.K. Kellogg Manor/ MSU Biological Station on Gull Lake takes place every February over a four-day weekend. Find more details on the Winter Retreat page.
Elk Lake Retreat (“Writing Camp Heaven”) was held at a new venue for for us beginning in September 2025: our favorite week-long summer retreat has moved to Wandawood Resort, on the shores of Elk Lake, just north of the city of Elk Rapids, MI. Our PW Writing Camp Heaven is now known as the Elk Lake Retreat.
View the recent 2026 Elk Lake Brochure on the Elk Lake Retreat page.
Read about PW Writing Circles on the PW Short Events page, by Kate Dernocoeur.
Other PW activities on our Facebook group include our PW Write-a-Novel-in-November Challenge, and our long running Art-a-Day Challenge to create and share with others anything you may consider to be “art.” There are also may be future invitations for the occasional Road Trip to writerly venues like independent bookstores around Michigan–members are encouraged to propose and organize a road trip and invite others to join in.
Ask to join our Facebook group
We also publish an annual PW Anthology. Submissions deadline is December 31. Open to all current dues-paying members. See the GUIDELINES FOR PW ANTHOLOGY here. (Guidelines haven’t changed, only the deadline.) Email peninsulawriters@att.net for more information.
Download a PW Member Brochure here. Downloadable PDF forms for member applications, scholarship applications, and scholarship and general fund donations can be found on the ABOUT page.
Website update notice: Be advised that our previous website on free WordPress is closed down. A notice has been posted there redirecting any hits there to this website here. Eventually it will be deleted. Due to recent spamming, comments have been discontinued.
© Peninsula Writers 2026