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)

2019
Eavan Boland, Forrest Gander, Jane Hirshfield, Major Jackson,
Lan Samantha Chang, Ryan Harty, Mitchell S. Jackson, Julie Orringer, Howard Norman

2018
Camille Dungy, Brenda Hillman, Jane Mead, Carl Phillips, Lan Samantha Chang, Lauren Groff, Mat Johnson, Howard Norman

2017
Eavan Boland, Jane Hirshfield, Ada Limón, Matthew Zapruder, Lan Samantha Chang, Peter Ho Davies, Daniel Orozco, ZZ Packer

2016
Camille T. Dungy, Brenda Hillman, Major Jackson, Brian Teare, Charles Baxter, Ron Carlson, Lan Samantha Chang, Yiyun Li

2015
Jane Hirshfield, D.A. Powell, Arthur Sze, Mary Szybist, Robert Boswell, Lan Samantha Chang, Michelle Huneven, Antonya Nelson

2014
Kazim Ali, Camille Dungy, Brenda Hillman, Brian Teare, Michael Byers, Lan Samantha Chang, Ayana Mathis, Justin Torres

2013
Camille Dungy, Linda Gregerson, Jane Hirshfield, Major Jackson, Lan Samantha Chang, Peter Ho Davies, Yiyun Li, Christopher Tilghman

2012
Eavan Boland, Forrest Gander, Brenda Hillman, Arthur Sze, Kevin Brockmeier, Ron Carlson, Lan Samantha Chang, Tayari Jones

2011
Jane Hirshfield, Major Jackson, D. A. Powell, David St. John, Daniel Alarcón, Lan Samantha Chang, Adam Haslett, Michelle Huneven

2010
Michael Byers, Ron Carlson, Lan Samantha Chang, Curtis Sittenfeld, Brenda Hillman, Major Jackson, Arthur Sze, C.D. Wright

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