The Writers Retreat for Emerging LGBTQ Voices will take place from August 1-8, 2026. As we did in 2025, we are holding our Writers Retreat online. This format allows for us to continue building our organizational resources while offering the same high-quality programming that remains accessible to folks who may not otherwise be able to attend in-person programs. Not only that, but the Virtual Retreat was a hit in 2025! Fellows and Faculty reported the Lambda Literary Virtual Retreat model was “one of the more accessible and inclusive retreats of its kind available to writers, and is driven forward by leadership who are dedicated to supporting queer artists and their development” (Sam Heyman, 2022/2025 Fellow). The rave reviews don’t stop there. See what Fellows and Faculty had to say about our virtual model:
Without exaggeration, this retreat was a life-changing experience. I am leaving with my brain chemistry altered, new confidence in my writing, and (at last) a personal understanding of that beloved queer trope of found family. This retreat healed something in me, some lingering world-suspicion and loneliness that has been lurking within me since the pandemic/lockdown. – Simo Srinivas, 2025 Speculative Fiction Fellow
…The format ended up being perfect—offering flexibility while still fostering meaningful connections and growth. Surrounded by such a talented, diverse group of writers, I left the retreat with not just a deeper understanding of my craft but also a new, supportive community. This experience is a must for anyone looking to expand their skills and be part of an inclusive, empowering literary environment. – Emmanuel Xavier, 2025 Screenwriting Fellow
Lambda Lit was the perfect conduit– accessible and virtual, fully generative, reflective, and strategic. The creative space for our poems to thrive for a better future demonstrated what queer community and writing can do. How we can revel together in our fullest possibilities. – Kay Ulanday Barrett, 2025 Poetry Faculty
While we are reveling in the possibilities our virtual space holds, we are also excited to announce that we plan to return to an in-person Retreat in 2027 at our home, Chestnut Hill, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. However, this does not mean our virtual offerings will end. Our staff is hard at work dreaming up a new Virtual Retreat model that is expected to launch in the Winter of 2027/2028. We can’t wait to share all of the magic we’re cooking up.
The news doesn’t end there! We’ve got some fantastic updates from behind the scenes at Lambda Lit. We are gently moving into a new chapter for the organization as we settle in with our Executive Director, Jozie Clapp. In her short time at Lambda, Jozie has already begun making impactful changes and establishing a strong vision that we are so excited to build upon.
For one, Jozie is proving to be a serious champion of the Retreat. With her support, In 2026, we are happy to announce we have been able to set the tuition for the retreat at an affordable $1,100. Additionally, in 2026, Fellows will no longer have to fundraise for their own tuition–Lambda Literary will provide financial support to those who need it. We are working hard to make our spaces as accessible as possible, and those who cannot pay their own way should not have to expend more time and energy just to attend. With this new plan, Lambda Literary will be offering financial support to make sure every accepted writer can attend, regardless of financial status.
Finally in exciting updates, we will be adding a brand new cohort to our Writers Retreat: the Romantic Fiction Cohort, helmed by the brilliant Casey Mcquiston. See all of our talented faculty below.
Applications for fellowships open on November 21, 2025 and close at 11:59 PM EST on January 8th, 2026.
Without further ado, Lambda Literary is pleased to announce the 2026 Faculty to lead our fellows during our prestigious Writers Retreat.
Fiction
The Faculty Member to lead our fellows in their study of Fiction is Alejandro Varela.
Alejandro Varela is based in New York. His work has appeared in the Boston, Yale, and Georgia Reviews, The Point Magazine, Harper’s, and The Offing, among other publications.
His debut novel, The Town of Babylon (Astra House, 2022) was a finalist for the National Book Award. His short story collection, The People Who Report More Stress (Astra, 2023), was a finalist for the International Latino Book Awards, and longlisted for the Aspen Literary Prize, the Story Prize, and the Jean Stein Awards. His latest novel, Middle Spoon, was published by Viking on September 9, 2025.
Varela is an editor-at-large of Apogee Journal, and holds a masters degree in public health from the University of Washington.
Nonfiction
The Faculty Member to lead our fellows in their study of Nonfiction is Anaïs Duplan.
Anaïs Duplan is a trans* poet, curator, and artist. He is the author of the book I NEED MUSIC; Blackspace: On the Poetics of an Afrofuture; Take This Stallion; and the chapbook, Mount Carmel and the Blood of Parnassus. He was a 2017-2019 joint Public Programs fellow at the MoMA and the Studio Museum in Harlem, and in 2021 received a Marian Goodman fellowship from Independent Curators International for his research on Black experimental documentary. In 2016, he founded the Center for Afrofuturist Studies, an artist residency program for artists of color, based at Iowa City’s artist-run organization Public Space One. He is the recipient of the 2021 QUEER|ART|PRIZE for Recent Work, and a 2022 Whiting Award in Nonfiction. Duplan is a professor of postcolonial literature at Bennington College, and has taught poetry at The New School, Columbia University, and Sarah Lawrence College, and others.
Playwriting
The Faculty Member to lead our fellows in their study of Playwriting is Sharifa Yazmeen.
Sharifa Yazmeen is a trans Arab-American director, actor, and playwright. She has completed directing fellowships with The Drama League, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Manhattan Theatre Club, Geva Theatre, and was a Eugene O’Neill national directing fellow. Her plays have been published in Overheard, a collection of monologues by and for TNB2S+ artists and the both editions of the Methuen Drama Book of Trans Plays. Her play Close to Home was distinguished by the American Theatre Wing at the annual Antoinette Gala, and was included on the 2023 Kilroy’s list. Yazmeen was also honored as the inaugural recipient of the SCDF’s Barbara Whitman Award in 2021, and Abe Burrows award in 2024. She holds a MFA in Directing from Brown/Trinity Rep.
Poetry
The Faculty Member to lead our fellows in their study of Poetry is Faylita Hicks.
Faylita Hicks is a queer Afro-Latinx poet, Grammy-nominated interdisciplinary recording artist, and creative strategist. They are the author of A Map of My Want (Haymarket Books, 2024)—winner of the 2025 Midwest Book Award for Poetry and finalist for the 2025 CWA Book of the Year—and HoodWitch (Acre Books, 2019), a finalist for the 2020 Lambda Literary Award. Hicks is the founder of The Craft Career Studio™ and a 2025 Haymarket Writing Freedom Fellow, creating work that merges social justice, spirituality, and art. They live and create in Chicago, Illinois.
Romantic Fiction
The Faculty Member to lead our fellows in their study of Romantic Fiction is Casey McQuiston.
Casey McQuiston is a #1 New York Times bestselling author of queer romantic comedies. Their books have been honored by the Stonewall Book Awards, the Lambda Literary Awards, and the American Library Association, and their writing on life and literature has been published in the Washington Post, the New York Times, and Bon Appetit. Their debut novel, Red, White and Royal Blue, was adapted to an Emmy-nominated film in 2023. When not writing love stories, they can be found staring at the nearest body of water or spending time with their beloved and always-hungry poodle mix, Pepper. Born and raised in southern Louisiana, Casey now lives with their family in beautiful Queens, New York.
Screenwriting
The Faculty Member to lead our fellows in their study of Screenwriting is Desta Tedros Reff.
Desta Tedros Reff is a writer and director that has written on a variety of different shows, from character dramas (Sorry for Your Loss, The Last Tycoon) to action (Shooter) and then some (The Purge, Grand Hotel). She served as an Executive Producer on Amazon Prime Video’s television reboot of A League of Their Own which was honored by the Human Rights Campaign and received a 2023 GLAAD Award for Outstanding New TV Show. Most recently, Desta has been writing a number of feature film adaptations—Queen of Basketball, the 2022 Oscar-winning Short Documentary, and Nothing to See Here, the acclaimed best-selling novel.
Before transitioning to entertainment, Desta had a former career as a lawyer and spent several years in the Mississippi Delta working as a social justice advocate. Desta loves to tell stories from a place of empathy that brings marginalized perspectives into the mainstream, specifically through authentic portrayals of LGBTQ+ and BIPOC characters and stories. She is a mother to two wonderful children Edith and Maple, who are her proudest achievement and her favorite thing.
Speculative Fiction
The Faculty Member to lead our fellows in their study of Speculative Fiction is Andrea Hairston.
Andrea Hairston ran away from the physics lab to the theatre as a young thing and has been a scientist, artiste, and hoodoo conjurer ever since. She is a novelist, poet, playwright, and Professor Emerita of Theatre and Africana Studies at Smith College. Stories that have been erased, stolen, or hidden call to her. An Afrofuturist in league with Indigenous Futurists, novels include: Archangels of Funk, shortlisted for the Le Guin Prize; Will Do Magic For Small Change, a NYT Editor’s pick, finalist for the Mythopoeic, Lambda, and Otherwise Awards; Redwood and Wildfire, Otherwise winner; Master of Poisons on Kirkus Review’s Best SF&F. Andrea bikes at night year-round, meeting bears, multi-legged creatures of light and breath, and the occasional shooting star. The Redemption Center is Closed on Sundays will be out in May, 2026.
Young Adult Fiction
The Faculty Member to lead our fellows in their study of Young Adult Fiction is Anna-Marie McLemore.
Anna-Marie McLemore is the author of thirteen novels, including William C. Morris YA Debut Award finalist The Weight of Feathers; Lambda Literary Award Finalist Lakelore; and National Book Award longest selections When the Moon Was Ours, The Mirror Season, and Self-Made Boys: A Great Gatsby Remix. Their adult debut, The Influencers, was a People Magazine Best Book of April 2025 and one of The Today Show’s Best Books of May 2025. Their next young adult novel, We Could Be Anyone, is forthcoming in spring 2026. Find them online at annamariemclemore.com.
We are honored to welcome all eight of our faculty members to our 2026 Retreat. To learn more about the Retreat, please visit our website.
With care,
chloe feffer (they/she/he)
Program Manager
Lambda Literary
