2027 Creative Writing Festival
April 26, 2027
(online registration deadline by April 19, 2027 but door tickets available)
With special guests:
L.S. Klatt: Award-Winning Poet
Andy Coe: Poet
Sea Gabriel: Publisher
L.S. Klatt
L.S. Klatt is the author of five collections of poetry, including Cloud of Ink, winner of the Iowa Poetry Prize, and Interloper, awarded the Juniper Prize. His poems have appeared in a wide variety of publications, such as The New Yorker, Harvard Review, Denver Quarterly, Crazyhorse, Poetry Daily, The Believer, Best American Poetry, Image, VOLT, and The Common. Klatt served as the poet laureate of Grand Rapids from 2014-2017 and recently edited Playing with Fire: Christian Poets Reflect on Faith and Practice, a collection of essays published by Baylor University Press. He currently teaches literature and creative writing at Calvin University.
Andy Coe
Andy Coe is Associate Director of the Internship Office and an adjunct professor of Psychology at Furman University. He has had poems published in The Blotter, Sweetbay Review, and North Carolina Bards Poetry Anthology and received an honorable mention for his poem “Sesame Street Blues” in the 2015 Wergle Flump Humor Poetry Contest. He regularly leads poetry workshops at Furman and created prompts for FuPoeWriMo (Furman Poetry Writing Month). His most recent work is a collection of poems, Brown Hens Standing in the Rain, which was published in 2025.
Sea Gabriel
Sea Gabriel is a cross media storyteller and university professor who holds a Ph.D. in Mythology, Comparative Religion, and Depth Psychology. She grew up, and has spent much of her life, in publishing in a variety of media, including being on the original team of the Palo Alto Daily News. She is the founder and director of independent publishing house NornCrafts.
About Montreat’s Creative Writing Festival
The Montreat College annual Creative Writing Festival welcomes writers of all ages and skill levels. Past sessions and workshops have covered songwriting, story strategies, character development and publishing advice. Guest speakers have represented a variety of creative writing backgrounds, including poetry, short stories, novels and children’s stories.
2027 Creative Writing Festival Schedule (subject to change)
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8:30-9:30 am | Check-in | Gaither Entrance Lobby
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9:30-10:20 am | Opening Remarks and Panel Session with Creative Specialists | Graham Chapel
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10:30-11:20 am | Breakout Writing Workshops with Featured Guests
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11:20 am-12:20 pm | Lunch (provided) | Howerton Dining Hall
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12:30-1:15 pm | Breakout Writing Workshops with Featured Guests
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1:15-2:00 pm | Campus Tours, Book Sales, and Book Signing | Graham Chapel
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2:00-2:45 pm | Keynote Session with L.S. Klatt | Graham Chapel
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2:45-3:00 pm | Closing Session and Award Ceremony | Graham Chapel
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(BONUS!) 7:00-9:00 pm | Lamp Post Open Mic Night and Magazine Release Party | Gaither Fellowship Hall
Registration
Online registration for Montreat College’s Annual Creative Writing Festival concludes on April 19, 2027 (but see the early bird discount below). Tickets are also available at the door. Registration includes lunch at the college’s Howerton Dining Hall.
Early Bird Registration Deadline: March 31, 2027
- Early Bird General Admission: $10
- Early Bird High School Students and Caregivers: $5
Online Registration Deadline: April 19, 2027
- Montreat College students, faculty, and staff: Free
- General Admission: $12
- High School Students and Caregivers: $10
Door Tickets: $15
Single Registration
Register using the Single Registration Form if you are a student, parent/caretaker, or a member of the community. If you are registering multiple people within your party, you may do so using this form by clicking “Add Another Attendee.”
Registration coming soon.
Group Registration
Register using the Group Registration Form if you are a school group leader registering yourself and your group of high school students.
Registration coming soon.
The 2027 Creative Writing Competition
We invite current junior and senior high school students who are attending the Creative Writing Festival to submit one poetry piece and/or one prose piece. Winners in each category (11th grade poetry, 11th grade prose, 12th grade poetry, and 12th grade prose) will receive a $1,500 scholarship to Montreat College. All entries are due by March 31, 2027.
Eligibility
- 11th grade or 12th grade high school student
- Maximum of one poem and one prose piece per writer
- Attendance at the 2027 Creative Writing Festival
Criteria
- Entries should be submitted in Microsoft Word or Google Document files and formatted in Times New Roman, 12 pt font with single-spaced text.
- The Creative Writing Festival is offered by Montreat College with its Vision, Mission, Statement of Faith, and Community Life Covenant: https://www.montreat.edu/about/mission/. We do not expect entries to address the College’s values, and we welcome submissions from writers who see the world from all vantage points; however, entries will be evaluated with consideration of the College’s values.
- Submissions generated in whole or in part by artificial intelligence are forbidden: no exceptions!
- No more than 5,000 words per submission
- Prose pieces may stand alone, such as a short story, or may be a portion of a larger work (e.g. a chapter).
Procedure
Each submission must be in a separate document. That is, a student submitting a poem and a short story must submit two separate files—one with the poem and one with the short story, each submitted separately via the appropriate form below.
The file must be named with the writer’s last name followed by the initial of the writer’s first name, a hyphen, and the name of the writer’s text, such as the following poem by John Smith entitled “Fly Away”:
- Smith J – Fly Away.docx
Rights to Publication
By the act of submission, each contestant releases one-time rights for their work to Montreat College for editing and publishing in both print and online versions of the college’s arts magazine, The Lamp Post. Submission does not guarantee publication in The Lamp Post. Authors retain full ownership of their works, and this release does not prohibit authors from publishing their works elsewhere.
Please see past editions of The Lamp Post.
English Program at Montreat College
Check out the English program at Montreat with its literature, creative writing, and professional communication concentrations.
Also see our Technical and Professional Communication program.
Please direct any questions to the Director of the Creative Writing Festival, Dr. Scott Foran: scott.foran@montreat.edu.