This year, we are excited to share several new programs and features of the 2022 Conference. The goal of these initiatives is to make the SVWC experience and free digital content more accessible than ever before, both to the local community and other communities nationwide.

SVWC provides a unique opportunity to engage with some of the country’s top thinkers, journalists, speakers, and authors on the issues that are most pressing in our world today. In order to connect a wider group of people with these inspiring and enlightening events, SVWC has built out the following programs:

Next Generation Pass

For the first time, we are excited to offer a limited number of half-price “Next Generation Passes” to our local community for those under the age of 35. With this pass, we are hoping to inspire the “next generation” of SVWC attendees, particularly our valley’s youth, to get engaged with the Conference. While passes are currently sold out for the 2022 conference, you can join the waitlist by emailing [email protected]. New passes may become available!

New Voices Fellowship

This year, we are inaugurating a special fellowship program to provide a rich literary experience for some of our country’s finest emerging talent. It is our pleasure to announce our three New Voices Fellows for 2022: Kali Fajardo-Anstine, Sanaë Lemoine, and Kalani Pickhart. These gifted young writers have been chosen for their ambitious and much-admired debut novels. Their books have received major acclaim and range the globe from the American West to Paris and Ukraine, wrestling with big themes of displacement and longing, of war and love, all of them full of unforgettable characters and lit up by moments of startling tenderness. The New Voices Fellowship program is made possible by the generous support of John and Ginna Grossman of the Grossman Foundation, in honor of Peggy Grossman. To learn more about these and other 2022 presenters, visit here.

Community Scholars Student/Author Luncheon with Anthony Doerr

This program is a collaboration between SVWC and the local high schools, offering students the opportunity to engage directly with an author from the Conference. This year’s featured writer is Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Anthony Doerr. Local high school Language Arts students will receive donated copies of Doerr’s new book, Cloud Cuckoo Land, for spring/summer reading and are invited to come to his Pavilion presentation. Students will also attend a private luncheon with the author during the Conference. Past authors in the program have included Dave Eggers (The Circle), Colson Whitehead (The Underground Railroad), and Karan Mahajan (The Association of Small Bombs).

Community Speaker Series

We have expanded our free speaker series in partnership with The Community Library to include more talks throughout the year. This past March, Heather Hansman spoke about “Water and the West.” Upcoming summer speakers will feature Imbolo Mbue (July 11), Erich Schwartzel (July 13), and Ayad Akhtar (July 20). All July talks will take place at 7:00 PM at the Ketchum Forest Service Park, weather permitting. Additionally, we are planning a YA or middle grade speaker event for the local schools this coming fall. For more information, visit here.