Founded 30 years ago, the Idaho nonprofit Sun Valley Writer’s Conference’s (SVWC) mission is “to bring together readers, writers, and artists of diverse age, background, and experience to be informed, enlightened, challenged, and inspired by a world-class literary program in the great outdoors.”
The goal of the SVWC is to inspire and challenge, uplift and enlighten, and to connect everyone through a shared love of literature. “It is our hopeful goal, that for a few magical days, each of us will be filled with a sense of wonder, through the medium of words,” stated John Burnham Schwartz, SVWC Literary Director.
Passes are sold out, but you can still celebrate authors, books, and words, from Saturday, July 19 through Monday, July 21. The SVWC offers opportunities for every budget with free Pavilion Lawn talks, free live streaming from anywhere in the world, free online content in the digital media library available on the website, and a free school speaker series in local schools. “These programs were developed specifically for people in the local community, young attendees, and students and teachers in local schools,” shared Kate Elgee Haase, Marketing and Communications Manager. Some of the podcasts include Swamp Story: Dave Barry’s Florida, and Curtis Sittenfeld on Love and Comedy. Audio clips include Dennis Lehane on Writing TV series versus Writing Fiction. Video clips can also be seen on the website.
This year The Community Library in Ketchum will host free talks by Ruth Reichl on July 16 and Sonia Purnell on July 22. Reichl’s most recent projects are The Paris Novel, and a documentary, Food and Country, with Laura Gabbert (City of Gold), which premiered at Sundance. Purnell’s latest book, Kingmaker, is an electrifying re-examination of Pamela Harriman, one of the 20th century’s greatest unsung power players as well as an eye-popping tale of sex, money, politics and fabulous clothes.
Year round there are lots of literary events and opportunities from the SVWC. For example, you can listen to a free podcast called Beyond the Page. Judy Blume, the author of twenty-five books for young readers and four novels for adults, was recorded live at the 2024 Writers Conference, in conversation with her friend Jeffrey Brown of the PBS NewsHour.
https://svwc.com/media/podcast/the-radical-honesty-of-judy-blume
Besides the free events, there are single event tickets available for only $35 each to select Pavilion Talks. Tickets will also be available for a Live Watch Party at the Argyros Theater in downtown Ketchum. For more info visit https://svwc.com/