The League has grown from its beginnings in 1929, when 130 writers set the annual membership fee at $1. While numbers have fluctuated through the years, now, in 2010, the League has more than 200 members, and an annual membership fee of $30. A 502(c)3 non-profit, the League remains an all-volunteer organizaton. Members serve on the board, organize conferences, meetings, and workshops, and assist with operations in a variety of capacities.

League Membership Benefits

Writers actively enrolled in the League of Vermont Writers are entitled to:

• Discounted fees for:
  • Quarterly meetings, held at various locations throughout Vermont and featuring presentations by established professionals. The League's newsletter, League Lines includes recaps of our presentations.
  • Workshops led by respected professionals in a range of writing and writing-related fields
  • Publishing conferences hosted by the League of Vermont Writers
• A subscription to the League's quarterly newsletter, League Lines
• Eligibility for group health insurance through the Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce (an affiliate of the League)
• Access to the members-only Manuscript Critique Service.
• All that, plus career-enhancing networking opportunities, for an annual membership fee of:
  • $30.00 for individuals
  • $40.00 for families (two people sharing the same mailing address)

Special Student Rate - (contact membership chair directly to arrange)

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  • Half-price individual memberships
  • Further reduction in fees for regular meetings
  • Submit a photocopy of current valid student id with membership application
  • (Student membership limit: 6 years --may be nonconsecutive)

To join the League today, click on the "Sign Up Today" box on this page to pay by credit card, OR send your name, address, and contact information -- including email -- with a check payable to League of Vermont Writers, to the following address:

For additional information, please contact the Membership Director Tommy Walz at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Meetings, conferences, and workshops have always been the heart of League activity, offering members a break from the solitude of the writing life, as well as an opportunity to develop their professional skills and make professional contacts.

The League's meeting schedule has evolved from a single annual meeting held in various locations around the state. In the 1950s, to increase the all-time low membership, a second meeting was added. The third meeting and fourth meetings evolved in the 1970s, with an informal discussion and potluck lunch filling the vacancy left when the Summer Institutes (see below) ended. The fourth meeting is a fall retreat, held first at Gove Hill and, since 2002, at the Bishop Booth Conference Center in Burlington.

In 1980 the League adopted the practice of holding quarterly meetings on the fourth Saturdays in January, April, July, and September. The January meeting is the official annual meeting, at which reports are presented to the membership and officers and directors-at-large are elected. The tradition of holding meetings around the state has evolved into a pattern: the January meeting is held in the Burlington area, the April meeting near Rutland. The July meeting alternates between northern and southern Vermont, and includes a potluck picnic with one or two speakers. The September meeting is a retreat. Details about upcoming meetings are posted on the Events page.

The League's first conference was held in 1944, when UVM was the location for the Summer Institute. Featuring workshops by respected professional writers, editors, and publishers, the Summer Institute lasted until about 1970. It would be 1990 before the League sponsored another conference. The three-day Dorothy Canfield Fischer Conference was held under the League's auspices from 1990 to1993, spun off into a private endeavor, and ended in 1997.

In 2008, the League held a "sold-out" Writers Meet Agents event in July, launching a new conference era for the group. The 2010, the "Timeless Craft, Timely Skills" Conference hits the boards in July, with Vermont author Chris Bohjalian as keynote speaker, sharing the bill with agents, editors, and presenters from around New England and the mid-Atlantic seaboard.

An addition to hosting seasonal meetings and conferences, the League has a history of supporting members who want to organize workshops on specific aspects of writing and publishing. Past topics have included writing fiction, non-fiction book proposals, building characters, writing for the sports market, writing for children, and giving readings. Like all League events, these workshops are open to the public.

League Lines, the official newsletter, began in 1942 as two pages of mimeographed news designed to connect LVW members throughout the year. In the 1970s League Lines was professionally printed on colorful bond paper. By the 1980s it was being produced on a computer. In 1992 the League had a masthead designed and League Lines expanded to its current eight pages, with reports on the previous meeting, the agenda for the next, and an opportunity for members to share their publication credits.

In 1991 the League produced the first of three Vermont Voices anthologies, collections of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry by League members, edited by League members. Vermont Voices I and II are out of print, but copies of Vermont Voices III are still available.

DDeb Fennell joined the League in 2005 to explore her life-long passion for writing. Some of Deb’s other passions have included teaching and coaching skiing, swimming and soccer and directing children’s camps. These passions bestowed upon Deb a wonderful sense of belonging to communities drawn together by shared interests. Deb finds an equally wonderful writing community in the League.

Deb’s first professional submission, a short piece for Ski magazine in the 70’s, paid $50 which may have been used to buy drinks at a local watering hole in Mammoth Lakes (CA) where she was then teaching skiing. Deb has written free-lance articles for papers from Lamoille County, VT to Vail, CO and for the Champlain Business Journal. She supports her passion for writing with a day job in public service for the State of Vermont. Deb is at work on a non-fiction book proposal, writes poetry and pens the President’s Letter for League Lines.

Joanne is the author of The Vermont Wedding Resource Guide (sold rights in 2005), Kidding Around Burlington (sold rights in 2008) and Camps, Cottages and Cabins. She is also a freelance writer, marketing consultant and a part-time designer for a design/build firm.