Homer’s Kachemak Bay Writers’ Conference was established in 2002. Homer’s Erin Hollowell has been working for the conference since 2012 and has been the director since 2019. The 2026 event took place on the Kachemak Bay Campus from May 16th-19th. In her closing remarks at this year’s event she turned the helm over to another local writer, Mercedes Harness. But, before reporting on that new change for the event, Hollowell provided a review of the 2026 event:
“It went great. We had a fabulous community of writers come in from outside to teach, and we had a fabulous community of writers, predominantly Alaska's Alaskans. I just felt like there was a really kind of an atmosphere of sharing, and that was great.
…this year filled quicker than any other year, like, like in two weeks we were sold out, which has never happened before. And so we had a huge wait list, and a lot of people applying for scholarships, so that was success, I guess. I mean, it would have been more successful if we could bump out the campus to accommodate everyone, but it was a great conference,” Hollowell said.
This was also the first year that the event has maxed out community attendance space on evening reading nights that took place on the KPC campus from guest faculty writers.
Hollowell provided these closing remarks to conference attendees at the final day of the event and her final day as director:
“I've been thinking quite a bit over the last few weeks about what I want to say to all of you as I step off this stage. I'd like to say something profound, but I'm afraid that would have taken a lot more time than I had, and that is the crux of it. I need time for my own writing, so I'm stepping away to do just that. Write, work at Story Knife, walk on the beach, forage for nettles, and talk with snowshoe hares. What I wish for you all. May writing find a congenial place in your heart. May you have the time to write, and the time to dream about your writing, and the time to let it rest, and the time to revise it. May your bookshelves always have something new and exciting for you to read and learn from. May you always have yet another author, poet, crush, a person whose work sets you on fire, and whose way in the literary world honors a path you'd like to take. May others see you as a writer and treat you like one, whatever that means to you. But more importantly, may you see yourself as a writer and give yourself permission to fully inhabit that role.”
In her final words to the community Hollowell also shared the importance of this conference to the identity of the Kachemak Bay Campus:
“I think that what is most important to me is that the community understands that this is a keystone project of the Kachemak Bay campus, that it is an integral part of the campus, and that it hopefully always will be. It's really a sparkling gem. There aren't any other big writers conferences in this state, so it's the way we get together as writers, and the fact that it's here in Homer is astounding.”
There will be a 2027 conference held on the Kachemak Bay Campus and details for next year’s event are not available yet. Mercedes Harness accepted her position at the end of the event this year.
Reporting from Homer, this is Emilie Springer.
