Center for the literary arts in New York State
Each year the Writers Institute brings 50 to 60 writers to Albany to conduct informal seminars, writing workshops, and readings as part of its Visiting Writers Series. Since our founding in 1983, the Institute has hosted well over 2,000 writers, poets, journalists, historians, dramatists, and filmmakers.
In addition the Institute has hosted many up-and-coming writers to provide them with exposure at the beginning of their writing careers. Our visiting writers represent not only a diversity of literary genres, but also of academic fields, from art to zoology, but also a diversity of race, language, ethnic origin, religion and lifestyle.
CLASSIC FILM SERIESThe Institute’s Classic Film Series, presented with support from Marc Guggenheim, UAlbany Class of ‘92, features weekly screenings of domestic and international films of distinction, and film festivals devoted to the work of particular directors, producers, or screenwriters.
The series has included rare films culled from archives and private collections, pre-release screenings from major studios, contemporary international offerings, as well as classics made in the U.S. Some of the filmmakers and screenwriters who have visited the Institute have included Hal Ashby, Hector Babenco, Costa-Gavras, Tomas Gutierrez-Alea, James Ivory and Ismail Merchant, Neil Jordan, Spike Lee, Albert Mayseles, Gordon Parks, Sr., Raoul Peck, D.A. Pennebacker and Chris Hegedus, Bob Rafelson, Phil Alden Robinson, Wallace Shawn, Ron Shelton, Christine Vachon, Agnes Varda, and Robert Wise, and Doug Wright.
CREATIVE LIFE CONVERSATION SERIES
In partnership with the University Art Museum and the Performing Arts Center, the Creative Life Conversation Series features live onstage conversations with WAMC’s “Roundtable” host Joe Donahue. Creative Life guests includedJoyce Carol Oates, Regina Carter, Jane Curtin, Garth Fagan, Roxane Gay, Jhumpa Lahiri, Lois Lowry, Patti LuPone, Debbie Millman, Susan Orlean, Ruth Reichl, and Paul Reiser.
THE ALBANY BOOK FESTIVALThe Albany Book Festival, established in 2018, draws thousands of book lovers from across the Capital Region and beyond to an intellectually stimulating and dynamic daylong event on the University at Albany uptown campus that promotes literacy and fosters a love of reading among all ages.
This annual fall festival features bestselling authors, panel discussions, book-signing sessions, online workshops for aspiring writers, and areas dedicated to young-adult and children’s books. Local and regional authors are featured in open mic sessions featuring young writers and poets and in our local author/exhibitor marketplace with dozens of authors, bookstores, publishers, and literary organizations represented. Read more
THE ALBANY FILM FESTIVALEvery film begins with a story, and storytelling in the filmmaking process is the essence of the New York State Writers Institute’s Albany Film Festival. Each spring, since it began in 2021, the NYS Writers Institute hosts filmmakers and screens films that explore the craft of storytelling in cinema. The festival includes in-depth panel discussions and how-to workshops with writers, screenwriters, filmmakers, film industry professionals, film critics, and authors whose books have been adapted into films.
Full-length features, documentaries and short films created by aspiring young filmmakers as well as acclaimed directors are screened, along with conversations and Q&As that encourage audience participation. The Festival augments the Writers Institute’s long-running and highly regarded Classic Film Series. Read more
NEW YORK STATE AUTHOR/POET AWARDSIn 1984, the NYS Writers Institute was given a mandate by the State Legislature to award both the Edith Wharton Citation of Merit for Fiction Writers (State Author) and the Walt Whitman Citation of Merit for Poets (State Poet) every two years. The governor awards each citation upon the recommendation of two advisory panels of UAlbany students, faculty, and distinguished authors convened under the aegis of the Institute. Read more
AUTHORS THEATREThe New York State Writers Institute's Authors Theatre was created to bring dramaturgy and audience response into the creative writing process by exploring the literary dimension of plays in progress, rather than showcasing productions of finished works. The series has benefited playwrights and audiences alike by creating a space where focused audience-author discourse contributes meaningfully to the shaping of a dramatic work at the same time that it demystifies the creative process. Read more
COMMUNITY WRITERS WORKSHOPSThe Institute offers Community Writers Workshops for members of the community in a variety of genres and levels throughout the academic year. Read more
TELLING THE TRUTH SYMPOSIUM
The annual “Telling the Truth” symposium has become a signature community-wide event that positions the New York State Writers Institute at the center of vital national conversations. Participants explore issues that impact democratic principles, including free speech, media literacy, the future of journalism, and cybersecurity. Each year, “Telling the Truth” focuses on a key theme and convenes acclaimed writers and noted authorities for moderated panel discussions, audience question-and-answer sessions, and a public reception. The symposium provides a forum for the sharing of often opposing viewpoints in respectful, civil discourse.
TROLLEY ONLINELITERARY MAGAZINE
At the request of founder William Kennedy, the Writers Institute launched Trolley, a web magazine of essay, opinion, literature, culture, and politics published free of charge in which each issue's words and images related to a single theme.
WRITERS ONLINE MAGAZINEFounded in 1997, the Writers Online Magazine was the Institute's electronic magazine of reviews, interviews, and feature articles on the writers and books shaping contemporary literature; it also included transcripts of conference events, seminars, and readings taken from the continually expanding Institute archives. In recent years, the magazine content has been incorporated into the Institute’s blog and website.
