Applications

NOTE: RAWR7 will be hosted virtually using a combination of internet collaboration technologies.

Interested individuals at least eighteen years of age and older (18+) may apply by filling out our application form hosted on Google Forms. Note that you will only be allowed a single application and you must have a Google account to log in. If you do not have a Google account. you may create one as part of the process.

Process

Due to the late start this year, we are using an accelerated process for applications:

1. Saturday, March 14, 2026: Applications opened. Newly received applications (the form and the practical exercise) are reviewed for completeness. Any issues are generally resolved during this time period first to expedite their processing after applications are closed. 
2. Saturday, April 11, 2026: Applications are closed. Any applications not recieved before 11:59 PM Eastern Time on this day will be rejected. Anyone applying after the cut-off may opt to forward their application to the following year.
3. Sunday, April 12, 2026: Final review, applicant last-minute correction. Applications are fully reviewed a second time for completeness; any applications not reviewed at this time go through first-pass procedures. Should any problems arise, they are corrected at this point in time. Application stories which fail the submission criteria may be rejected.
4. Monday, April 13, 2026: Candidate story review begins. A jury panel reviews the story submissions to determine whether applicants are a good fit for the writing retreat. This process can take up to two (2) weeks, but may be shorter.
5. Friday, May 1, 2026 - Monday, May 18, 2026: Notify candidates of results. Candidates will start receiving notices about the status of their application. Applicants who were offered a seat have two (2) weeks to respond.
6. Monday, May 18, 2026: Deadline for applicant to respond. Last day to accept or decline their seat. Applicants who do not respond by 11:59 PM Eastern Time automatically forfeit their seats. All applicants who accepted are finalized.  
7. Monday, May 19, 2026 - Monday, June 1, 2026: Additional applicant preparation steps. Candidates should validate that their computers and internet access will work with the proposed technologies for the writing retreat (in this case, either Teams, Slack, or Jitsi Meet). If a candidate submitted a previously published work, they may write a new work and submit that to replace the previously published work.
8. Monday, June 1, 2026: Submit replacement work if desired. If an applicant would like to submit a new story to replace a previously published application sample story, it should be submitted by no later than 11:59 PM Eastern Time on this date. Extensions are possible with prior permission (just e-mail and ask if you need one). 
9. Sunday, June 7, 2026: The event begins. The event starts. Candidates are welcomed! Start time is TBD, but usually somewhere around 12:00 PM Eastern Time, subject to adjustment depending on time zones.

Components

Our application consists of two principal parts:

Basic Information, Contacts, and Getting to Know You

We gather information about you, your interests, and your goals while as a workshop attendee. For in-person events, we also gather information about allergies, medical needs, emergency contacts, age, and other information we might need in order to help you in the case of an emergency. Some of this information is also collected for legal purposes.

Practical Exercise

We ask applicants to submit a new or previously published sample of their writing as part of the application. The sample should be no longer than 6,000 words and submitted in standard manuscript format in a serif font. More details can be found on the Submissions page.

IMPORTANT: We do not accept, process, or critique works created using Generative AI technologies. If you are interested in writing using Generative AI, this retreat is not for you. Any applicant who submits a story as part of their application, for critique, or uses Generative AI tools to create prose will have their application rejected or be removed from the retreat.