The 9th Annual Taos Writers Conference

A full weekend of workshops on fiction, creative nonfiction, memoir, poetry, essays & more!

Limited-seating live sessions as well as online via Zoom.

I’ll be presenting a three hour intensive on Saturday to introduce and develop the use of all five senses in writing fiction, nonfiction or poetry, specifically focusing on the sense of smell. Although often considered the most evocative of the five senses, writers seldom use its power to create and communicate both physical settings and emotional states.

Each participant should bring an item whose smell–bad or good–is evocative. We will write a paragraph describing the memories, thoughts or feelings this smell inspires. We will read these paragraphs and imagine ways it might lead to a scene in your memoir.

I will bring some samples from my box labeled, “A Writer’s Nose”, including a cigar, saffron, lavender etc. We will each chose one of these samples and write a paragraph describing the smell and what memories or feelings or thoughts it inspires. We will read these aloud and comment.

The sense of taste is associated with the sense of smell. In fact, someone who loses one often loses the other. You may want to include the sense of taste, as in Marcel Proust’s description in “In Search of Lost Time”:

“The taste was that of was that of a little piece of madeleine which on Sunday mornings when I went to say good morning to her in her bedroom, my aunt Leonie used to give me, dipping it first in her cup of tea…”

Buttery? Sugary? Proust doesn’t say. But we are free to imagine.

Faculty Reading and Book Signing on Saturday, July 26th, 2025, at 5:30pm

Lunch roundtable discussions on Self-Publishing and Publishing Short Stories

Early Bird Registration by end of day 6/28/25:

• $499 all three days, including faculty readings, keynote reading, receptions, and lunch roundtable discussions
• $335 for three weekend workshops (3 hours each) plus all of the above
• $175 Friday Intensive (6 hours) only plus all of the above

Late registration beginning 6/29/25

• $569 for all three days
• $385 for all three weekend workshops
• $199 for Friday Intensive

Keynote reading (only) by Nick Flynn: Friday, 7/25/25 at 5:30pm, $10/SOMOS members; $15/nonmembers

Enroll