Dear colleagues,
The CFP for the 8th annual Writing Innovation Symposium (WIS) is here!
WIS ’26 will convene in Milwaukee, WI, and online January 29-30, 2026. The theme, artifact, invites everyone to explore writing in relation to art, facts, and objects of all kinds. This year’s innovations include a makerspace and an artifact exchange open to all participants.
Proposals for 5-minute flashtalks, 75-minute workshops, posters, displays, and installations are due 10/24. Early career colleagues are invited to apply for 2026 Bedford/St. Martin’s WIS Fellowships (due 10/24). Each year, fellows receive mentorship and an opportunity to blog for Bedford Bitsas well as up to $500 for expenses related to onsite WIS attendance.
Also, if you teach, mentor, and advise undergraduate writers, take note: We invite undergrads to share pre-recorded 30-second sparks and 3-minute flares. Complete submissions of these genres are due 11/21. For those interested in teaching a spark or flare prompt, WIS mentor-curators will be holding a Zoom drop-in session on 8/25 at 12PM CST.
Program notifications will begin in early November, and event registration will open soon after that. Read the full CFP here <https://bit.ly/WIS2026CFP>, apply here: <https://bit.ly/Propose4WIS26>, and be in touch with questions—
Jenn Fishman, Chief Capacitator on behalf of the WIS ’25 Team
Steering Committee members: Darci Thoune, Gitte Frandsen, Grant Gosizk, Hannah Locher, Jessica Yood, Kaia Simon, Kelsey Otero, Lilly Campbell, Max Gray, Najma Ibrahim, Natalie Taylor, Nora Boxer, Olivia Stoltman, Susan Bernstein