Sign up to win prizes and for exclusive updates about this year’s festival
April 24-26, 2026
Collaborating their own unique form of spoken word and music performance.Ramona King has been performing nationally for over 25 years. She conducts workshops and gives presentations on embracing change and challenges for empowered living. She performs folklore and original stories in movement, dance and song, creating an atmosphere of playful wisdom which in turn stimulates imagination, […]
Lee Johnson has a B.A. from Bennington and an MFA in fiction from the University of Virginia. His work has appeared in The Oxford American, the Mississippi Review, Meridian, Salamander, Appalachian Heritage and The Common, and he has recently completed his first novel, Nitro Mountain. He lives in North Bennington, Vt. […]
Michael Hearst is a writer, composer and multi-instrumentalist whose work spans from composing movie soundtracks to literary collaborations. Hearst is a founding member of the band One Ring Zero. Hearst has given lectures, workshops and performances at various venues around the world. He has made TV appearances on shows such as NPR’s Fresh Air, A+E’s […]
From Buster Bluth on Arrested Development to his Emmy Award-winning role as Gary Walsh on HBO’s Veep, Tony’s journey as an actor has taught him many lessons—the most important being it’s not always about the Next Big Thing, it’s about right now. He brings this lesson to life through the eyes of Archibald in his […]
Val Haynes received her MFA in fiction from Bennington in 2013. She’s been a singer, an actress, a bookie and a dishwasher. She’s released two CDs, Lonesome Val and NYC, the latter produced by Suzzy Roche. Her story “Shark Skin,” published in Free State Review, has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. She has lived […]
Peter Guralnick has been called “a national resource” by critic Nat Hentoff for work that has argued passionately and persuasively for the vitality of this country’s intertwined black and white musical traditions. His books include the prize-winning two-volume biography of Elvis Presley, Last Train to Memphis and Careless Love. He teaches Creative Writing at Vanderbilt, […]
In understanding GIVERS, it’s helpful to think of a constellation, a configuration of points of brightness that when placed in succession, led to the Lafayette, Louisiana-based quintet’s brilliant debut. The metaphor proves particularly useful given the name of their album – In Light (Glassnote Entertainment Group) is a collection filled with joy and brightness, buoyed […]
David Gates is the author of the novels Jernigan and Preston Falls, and The Wonders of the Invisible World, a collection of stories. A Hand Reached Down to Guide Me, a novella and eleven stories, will appear in June 2015. He teaches at the Bennington Writing Seminars and the University of Montana. […]
Mary Gaitskill is the author of the novels “Two Girls, Fat and Thin,” “Veronica.” She has also written three story collections “Bad Behavior,” “Because They Wanted To,” and “Don’t Cry.” Her stories and essays have appeared in The New Yorker, Harper’s, Granta, Best American Short Stories and The O. Henry Prize Stories. She has taught […]
Walk down a white sandy beach on an island in the Gulf of Mexico and you might see Velma Frye there singing songs about the stars and the moon and the turtles. Velma’s music awakens the heart to a sense of place and community. In addition to the Florida Gulf coast, she has played piano […]