Schedule Sneak Peek

While the conference is about a year away and the committees have lots of planning to do, we thought we’d give you a high-level overview of what to expect, content-wise.

Look for a complete schedule with exact times in the late fall/early winter, with keynote announcements coming sooner! This loose overview, sorted by tabs, below, is just for informational purposes. This is subject to change. Again, we want to share with you what we know to help get you pumped about HippoCamp!

Click on the tabs for each day, below, to see what we have in store!


Friday, August 7

The day it all begins! The conference begins at about 4 p.m., but optional pre-conference workshops and a special lunch for presenters and guests will be held earlier in the day.

  • Pre-conference craft workshops earlier in the day (optional)
  • Welcome and orientation beginning in the late afternoon
  • Opening reception with “first draft” on us
  • Evening readings
  • Unofficial After Hours: Explore downtown Lancaster on your own or with new friends!

Official times, locations, descriptions and more details to come; we’re providing loose info just to allow you to vision what HippoCamp: A Conference for Creative Nonfiction Writers is all about!


Saturday, August 8

Saturday is the heart of HippoCamp and the only full day. That’s why we’re feeding you a hearty breakfast!

  • The Early Riser’s Central Market Meet-up
  • Breakfast buffet and topic tables
  • Morning welcome and opening panel (on defining and crafting creative nonfiction)
  • Three morning breakout sessions (three sessions to choose from in each time slot)
  • Lunch Buffet
  • Afternoon panel (hear emerging authors share their “how I got my book deal” story)
  • Two afternoon breakout sessions (three sessions to choose from in each time slot)*
  • Dinner on your own in downtown Lancaster
  • Special evening keynote and reading, followed by Q&A and book-signing – cash bar
  • After Hours: Arts & Drafts open mic reading, off-site

Look for a complete schedule with exact times in the late fall (after session proposal period is over), with keynote announcements coming sooner! This loose overview is just for informational purposes to give you an idea of what this conference is all about.

*Two of the three sessions in the final time slot will be ‘second chance’ sessions, or a repeated session from a popular morning session to allow you to see something you missed–we know it’s hard to choose! This idea is borrowed from HigherEdWeb’s red stapler concept and OmniUpdate’s OU Campus User Conference’s ‘repeated sessions’ idea. (In fact, those two conferences really informed HippoCamp’s format!)


Sunday, August 9

On Sunday, the final day of the creative nonfiction conference, we come together as one group again; and the focus of the day is on engaging panels.

  • Morning remarks over pastries, coffee and tea
  • Marketing panel
  • Agent panel
  • Closing Keynote
  • Closing remarks, recognition and prizes – early afternoon
  • Post-conference query workshops (optional)

While the conference is about a year away and the committees have lots of planning to do, we thought we’d give you a high-level overview of what to expect, content-wise. Panelists to be announced! 


All Weekend

Throughout the conference enjoy:

  • Exhibits: Meet vendors with products and services that fit writers
  • Book sale: Grab a title penned by our keynoters, panelists and other HippoCamp guests
  • Each Other: Informal networking opportunities