How long is the workshop? 5 Days
When? August 4-8, 2025
Location? Serendib House, Oak Park, IL (just outside Chicago)
Instructors? Mary Anne Mohanraj and Ben Rosenbaum
Number of spaces? 10 (Workshop) / 10 (Retreat)
What’s the price? $750 for the Workshop / $400 for the Retreat
When? August 4-8, 2025
Location? Serendib House, Oak Park, IL (just outside Chicago)
Instructors? Mary Anne Mohanraj and Ben Rosenbaum
Number of spaces? 10 (Workshop) / 10 (Retreat)
What’s the price? $750 for the Workshop / $400 for the Retreat
Deadline to apply? July 21, 2025
Notified by? July 23, 2025
This 5-day workshop is designed for intermediate-level writers; it’s appropriate for writers who have started to publish professionally, for semi-pros, for indie authors working at that level, and for those ready to take the next step beyond courses aimed at beginners.
A $150 deposit is required for both the retreat and workshop to reserve your spot once accepted. On August 1, the remainder will be charged. The total cost (including the deposit) is $750 for the Workshop, $400 for the Retreat.
MARY ANNE’S BIO
Mary Anne Mohanraj is author of A Feast of Serendib, Bodies in Motion, The Stars Change, and fourteen other titles. Other recent publications include stories for George R.R. Martin’s Wild Cards series, Perennial: A Garden Romance (Tincture), stories at Clarkesworld, Asimov’s, and Lightspeed, and an essay in Roxane Gay’s Unruly Bodies. Mohanraj founded Hugo-nominated and World Fantasy Award-winning speculative literature magazine Strange Horizons, and serves as Executive Director of the Speculative Literature Foundation (speclit.org). She is Clinical Professor of fiction and literature at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Anne_Mohanraj), Author page: www.maryannemohanraj.com.
BENJAMIN ROSENBAUM’S BIO
Benjamin Rosenbaum is the author of the Nebula-nominated Jewish historical fantasy interactive fiction game “The Ghost and the Golem” (Choice of Games, 2024) as well as The Unraveling (Erewhon, 2021, Otherwise Honor List), a far-future coming-of-age novel of love and social unrest; the short story collection The Ant King and other stories (Small Beer, 2008); and the Jewish historical fantasy tabletop roleplaying game Dream Apart, which was published together with Avery Alder’s Dream Askew, launching the “Belonging Outside Belonging” family or roleplaying games (Buried Without Ceremony, 2019). His work has been translated into over 20 languages, and nominated or shortlisted for Hugo, Nebula, BSFA, Sturgeon, World Fantasy, Locus, and Ennie Awards. He lives near Basel, Switzerland with his family, and serves on the board of Migwan, Basel’s Liberal synagogue.
WORKSHOP VS. RETREAT
The main difference between our workshop and retreat will be our critiquing sessions. Those applying to the workshop are invited to submit up to 8,000 words (by July 23, 2025). During the morning, Mary Anne, Ben, and the other workshop members will critique these manuscripts.
The main difference between our workshop and retreat will be our critiquing sessions. Those applying to the workshop are invited to submit up to 8,000 words (by July 23, 2025). During the morning, Mary Anne, Ben, and the other workshop members will critique these manuscripts.
BREAKFAST: 8:30am-9:30am
In the morning, a continental breakfast will be offered to all attendees of the workshop and retreat.
MORNING BLOCK: 9:30am-12:30pm
While critiquing sessions are happening for workshop members, retreat members will be encouraged to gather in a nearby cafe, library, or Mary Anne’s home. She lives in an old Victorian, with several spaces suitable for writing — a writing shed, the library, the front porch, the music room, etc. Retreat members are welcome to use these spaces, or we can direct you to several great cafes & library locations in walking distance.
LUNCH: 12:30-1:30pm
Lunch will be provided, and we encourage workshop and retreat members to gather.
AFTERNOON BLOCK: 1:30-5:30pm
Free writing time with optional activities — talks, Q&A, possible field trips, and writing games.
Free writing time with optional activities — talks, Q&A, possible field trips, and writing games.
DINNER: 5:30-7:30pm
We’ll provide a list of local restaurants in walking distance, and encourage writers to choose one together.
ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES:
Q&A with Lori Rader Day (mystery novelist)
Lori Rader-Day is the Edgar® Award-nominated and Agatha, Anthony, and Mary Higgins Clark award-winning author of Wreck Your Heart, The Death of Us, Death at Greenway, The Lucky One, Under a Dark Sky, The Day I Died, Little Pretty Things, and The Black Hour. She lives in Chicago, where she is leads the mystery readers’
festival Midwest Mystery Conference and teaches creative writing for Northwestern University’s School of Professional Studies.
Q&A with Alec Nevala-Lee (SF writer and biographer)
Alec Nevala-Lee is a biographer, novelist, and critic based in Oak Park, Illinois. His books include Astounding: John W. Campbell, Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, L. Ron Hubbard, and the Golden Age of Science Fiction, which was a Hugo Award finalist and an Economist best book of the year; Inventor of the Future: The Visionary Life of Buckminster Fuller, a New York Times editors’ choice and one of Esquire’s fifty best biographies of all time; and Collisions, the first biography of the physicist Luis W. Alvarez. He’s currently working on Whiz Kids: The Oracles of RAND and the World They Made, which is scheduled to be published by Norton in 2028.
Q&A with Sue Burke (SF writer)
Sue Burke is a writer, journalist, and translator who has lived in Milwaukee, Austin, Madrid, and now in Chicago. She’s published short stories, poems, and articles in a variety of magazines and anthologies. Her novel Semiosis was published by Tor in February 2018; its sequel, Interference, in 2019; and the third book in the trilogy, Usurpation, in 2024. Her other novels are Immunity Index, May 2021, and Dual Memory, May 2023.
HOUSING
There’s a local hotel just up the block (the Carleton), and a variety of Airbnb options in the area. Housing is not included in tuition cost.
There’s a local hotel just up the block (the Carleton), and a variety of Airbnb options in the area. Housing is not included in tuition cost.
ACCESS NOTES
The workshop will be held at Mary Anne’s home. There are several steps up to the front door, and she has a gentle cat. The kitchen is not kosher or celiac-friendly; we can reimburse you for lunch costs if you need to bring your own. We will also be using our SLF Discord for us and other members to communicate.
DISCORD COMMUNITY
All participants will be invited to a Discord channel, where we can coordinate in detail and get to know each other. (If access to Discord is a problem, let us know and we can consider other solutions).
All participants will be invited to a Discord channel, where we can coordinate in detail and get to know each other. (If access to Discord is a problem, let us know and we can consider other solutions).
WRITING SAMPLE INSTRUCTIONS
If you’re applying to the workshop, please submit here a writing sample of between 500-2000 words. It doesn’t need to be related to what ends up being critiqued at the workshop, and it doesn’t need to be a complete work. It’s mostly just to give us an idea of what level participants are at! (If you’re not sure whether you prefer to go to the retreat or the workshop, go ahead and submit a sample.)
SLF ACCOUNT
If you’re not already logged in, the form below will ask you for a username and password to create an SLF account.
WHEN SHOULD I EXPECT TO HEAR BACK?
We’re doing rolling admissions for this workshop/retreat and will let you know as soon as we’ve processed your application!
