Annual UND Writers Conference

The UND Writers Conference has featured some of the most well-known authors of the 20th and 21st centuries at all stages of their careers.

Founded in 1970 and held every year since, the UND Writers Conference is a three-day event featuring six to eight authors annually ranging from Gwendolyn Brooks and August Wilson to Tommy Orange and Colson Whitehead. The UND Writers Conference is committed to community outreach, engagement, and finding ways to increase audience access to literature.

Its mission is to provide a forum for those in North Dakota and the Upper Plains to discuss how the arts impact our everyday lives. It focuses on the work of the invited authors, poets and artisans, as well as their extemporaneous interaction with attendees. All Conference events are free and open to the public with recordings uploaded to its digital collection, creating an open access opportunity for a rigorous exploration of the literary arts, not otherwise available, to all.

56th Annual UND Writers Conference

"Makers & Machines" | March 19-21, 2025

Coming in Spring 2025, the 56th Annual UND Writers Conference, held on campus and online. Watch for details as the date approaches, but mark your calendar now!

National Endowment for the Arts

The 2010, 2011, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2021, 2023, and 2024 UND Writers Conferences were sponsored in part by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts.