Zoom-style boxes with the smiling faces of 2025 Writers Retreat Fellows from all genres, beaming after their performances at the nightly reading series. Pictured from left to right, top to bottom: Hess Love, Aryn Scanlon, A’raelle Flynn-Bolden, Jenevieve Ting, Neon Mashurov, Sophie Mutiara Nova, Kc Casteneda, Helen Everbach, Chloe Colbert, Juniper Johnson, Ang(ela) Bey, Gina Stella dell’Assunta, Meredith King, Amir, Ale Flores, and Utkarsh Rajawat. The writers pictured are all shades of skintones, various gender identities, ages, shapes and sizes.
Home Creative Incubator for LGBTQ+ Voices

Creative Incubator for LGBTQ+ Voices

Introducing Lambda Literary’s newest program: a nourishing virtual retreat dedicated to generative writing and community building for writers at all stages of their career

Each of the cohorts in fiction, nonfiction, performance writing, and poetry are facilitated by a talented faculty member with a wide range of experience across the genre they’re leading. 10 fellows per cohort offers a chance for deep, personal connection and dedicated time to focus on their own writing, community building, and learning craft across genre. 

We’re excited to build something fresh and new for our Creative Incubator Fellows. This space will encourage experimentation and invite writers at all stages of their career to practice writing as an act of creative nourishment. Together, we will foster a growth space for multi-hyphenate artists and those whose work defies genre or who are looking to learn craft elements outside of their norm and apply them to their own practice.

In this creative incubator, programming will focus on generative writing. Cohort groups will meet to create and share new work while weaving craft lessons and discussions with their faculty members and peers. No matter one’s genre(s), these sessions will support all creative writing pursuits.

 

Incubator Fellows will:
  • Participate in 3 days of generative cohort workshops
  • Have a one-on-one session with their faculty member to closely discuss their own writing practice, product, and journey in publishing
  • Attend generative writing sessions from visiting authors in geared towards producing writing that supports their current project or that generates something wholly new
  • Read a sample of their work during the evening reading celebrations alongside fellows and faculty members
  • Become a part of a powerful community of queer and trans writers and gain access to future opportunities from Lambda Literary and partner organizations such as residencies, scholarships, workshops, and more

Table of Contents

Application Status

OPEN

Applications are now open on Submittable and close on July 15, 2026.

Apply

The 2027 Incubator

Faculty

Jeanne Thornton, Fiction

Jeanne Thornton is the author of A/S/L, Summer Fun (winner of the Lambda Literary Award for Transgender Fiction), and others, as well as the editorial director of Feminist Press, copublisher of Instar Books, and cohost of Brooklyn’s World Transsexual Forum open mic. Her writing has appeared in n+1, WIRED, Evergreen Review, and other places; she has taught for One Story, McCormack Writing Center, Lambda Literary, Writing Co-Lab, and more. More information is available at jeannethornton.com.

Edgar Gomez, Nonfiction

Edgar Gomez is a queer NicaRican writer born and raised in Florida. He is the author of the memoir High-Risk Homosexual, winner of the American Book Award and a Lambda Literary Award. His most recent book, Alligator Tears: A Memoir, was called “triumphant, dazzling, and unfailingly stylish” by Publisher’s Weekly, received a Florida Book Award, and is a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award for Gay Memoir. Gomez lives between New York and Puerto Rico. 

Roger Q. Mason, Performance

Roger Q. Mason (they/them) is an award-winning writer, performer, and thought leader whose work uses history as a lens to challenge systems of exclusion and uplift marginalized voices. They work has been seen on and Off-Broadway, as well as regionally. As an educator, Roger has served as a mentor for Lambda Literary, Workshop Theatre, the Marsha P. Johnson Institute’s Starship Fellowship, the New Visions Fellowship and the Shay Foundation Fellowship. They are currently on faculty at CalArts. Instagram: @rogerq.mason

Oliver Baez Bendorf, Poetry

Oliver Baez Bendorf is a poet, artist, and author of three books, including Consider the Rooster (Nightboat Books, 2024), a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle and Lambda Literary Awards. His previous collections include Advantages of Being Evergreen and The Spectral Wilderness. His honors include fellowships from the NEA and CantoMundo. Working where story, line, and image meet, his practice treats the notebook as a material shelter and a living record. A dedicated educator with over 15 years of experience, he has served on the faculty at the Fine Arts Work Center and Warren Wilson College. He currently lives, writes, and draws in exile.

Details

When and Where

February 13 and February 19-February 22, 2027, takes place online. See below sample schedule for an example of what the Incubator may offer (subject to change). 

 

Tuition

$725, offered on a sliding scale basis

 

Scholarships, Financial Support, and Fundraising

Thanks to the support of individual and institutional donations, Lambda Literary has a robust scholarship and financial support program. Our scholarships are manuscript-, demographics-, and need-based. In addition to scholarship opportunities, Lambda Literary also offers full financial support on a need-based basis. Even if you do not receive one of the available scholarships, you’re still eligible for financial support from us.

 

You may apply to as many scholarships and/or opportunities as you are eligible for. Application to scholarship and financial support does not have an impact on your application status and is only seen by Lambda Literary staff, and where noted, fellowship committees. Your response is concealed from other reviewers including faculty members who make the final decisions on all selected fellows.

With this new plan, Lambda Literary will be offering financial support to make sure every accepted writer can attend, regardless of financial status. 

 

Application Dates

Applications for fellowships open on June 4 and close at 11:59 PM ET on July 8, 2026.

 

Application Fee

There is a $25 application fee. You may apply to more than one workshop, however, each application must be submitted separately and requires an additional fee. The fee is processed through Submittable’s online portal. If you wish to pay by cash or check please contact retreat@lambdaliterary.org. 

 

Application Fee Waivers

A limited number of application fee waivers are available for QTBIPOC (Queer and Trans folks who are Black, Indigenous, and Persons of Color) members of our community. 

To inquire about a fee waiver, email retreat@lambdaliterary.org confirming your eligibility as a member of the QTBIPOC community.

You do not need to provide any other identifying information. Waivers are given out on a first-come-first serve basis. Secure yours sooner rather than later!

 

Application Review

Our application review is done in three stages by a team of Writers Retreat Alumni, our Program Manager, and Creative Incubator Faculty. Our application process is unique in that each Faculty member chooses their own cohort.

Sample Schedule

This schedule is subject to change. All times are shown in Eastern Time. 

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