Inkubator 2023

Literary Cleveland’s Inkubator Writing Conference is one of the largest free writing festivals in the country.

From September 18-20 we will host live virtual panels with some of the best authors in the country. Our two-day in-person conference at the Cleveland Public Library on September 22-23 is our biggest ever, featuring writing workshops, panel discussions, craft talks, teen writing programs, a book fair, breakout social spaces, and an afterparty reading and celebration. Plus, we have a series of new community projects this year from September 10-24 to activate new locations and reach more people across the city.

The 2023 festival features Hanif Abdurraqib, Peter Ho Davies, Lydia Davis, Sean Thomas Dougherty, Hafizah Augustus Geter, Manuel Iris, Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Rakesh Satyal, Clint Smith, Elissa Washuta and a keynote reading with Elizabeth Acevedo.

The Inkubator is presented as part of Cleveland Book Week in collaboration with the Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards and the Great Lakes African American Writers Conference (GLAAWC).

Altogether, the Inkubator is a public celebration of writing in Cleveland that advances writers’ individual abilities, furthers artistic dialogue, fosters a more connected literary community, and invites more people to tell their stories. Registration opens August 1.